Last week I had felt somewhat anxious about the state of our world. I typically avoid reading the bad news but Donald Trump and his attention hoarding headliners “trumped” my twitter feed and I just couldn’t avoid the commotion! Combine all this Trump talk with the recent rash of shootings and I began to wonder what kind of world of division and hate are we creating? What kind of world is my son going to inherit? This mindset changed when I went for a drive.

This past spring my family was fortunate to purchase a “new to us” Jeep Wrangler. It was always a dream car for my wife and I had grown to admire them over the years. So, I sold my Mustang and another car we had and we bought a Jeep! I’ll be honest, at first, the thing drove like a tank to me. I was used to the handling of a sports car, but over time I began to enjoy the quirky drive that the Jeep is known for and it didn’t take me long to really enjoy the versatility that this boxy SUV brings. I also began to really enjoy “the wave”.

There is an unwritten rule -at least locally- that when you come across another Jeep owner on the road you are supposed to give them a quick 2 finger wave. At first, I found it astounding that about 80% of the Jeep owners that you come across on your journey will give you a quick wave. Heck, even when we were test driving the thing we got waved to! Each time I go for a drive, I feel like the mayor of a small town where everyone knows me. I know when I am driving my other car, I find myself rather disconnected to the other drivers on the road; even my mild road rage tends to be heightened whereas, in the Jeep, I am almost always calm.

So last week, when I was feeling like our world, was falling apart and the threat that Trump will one day rule the world, all I had to do was go for a quick drive. Each wave from the driver a passing Jeep made me feel warm and welcomed. It may seem like a simple gesture, but for a split second during a mindless drive I felt like I belonged to something and that there was no hate between two passing vehicles. That split second of kindness was enough to lighten my mood for hours. I wish everyone owned a Jeep. Maybe if we all did, the constant waving would make this uncertain world a little more connected, warm and kind.