Perhaps you are a motorcyclist. Perhaps you are even a motorcyclist from the United States.
If so, I think you are going to understand what I am talking about. I resist speculation about countries I have yet to ride in, but I have good reason to believe that riders from countries that drive on the right hand side of the road will also know what I am talking about. But this has become quite the prologue-- what is it that I am talking about?
The US Motorcyclist Wave.
It might possibly be the finest, most simple greeting, gesture, or general expression I have had the pleasure of receiving (and giving) in my life. To be sure, I am generally a neophyte when it comes to bikes, and this undoubtedly makes my views rather...rosy. Hear me out.
However-- details, please.
The Scenario: Two motorcyclists on indeterminate machines (each having less than 4 wheels but more than 1 wheel [1]) approach each other via their respective oncoming lanes.
Action: We see the perspective of Biker 1-- riding in his right lane, he is able to free his hand from the left handlebar and reappropriate it to the necessary and honorable task of 'waving' [2] to the oncoming rider (coming from the forward left, mind you).
The events occur in the same fashion as Biker 2 (approaching from the opposite direction) reciprocates the gesture of motorcyclehood.
Outcome: Each rider, though confident in his individuality and responsibility regarding the quintessential self-determination of motorcycling, is mildly reassured by the fact that others, like himself, 'get it' in a world of cage drivers who generally believe that it is acceptable to eat, apply makeup, text message, watch TV, receive oral sex, compose essays, give oral sex, and listen to siren-drowning music behind tinted or curtained windows while driving.[3]
If you still don't understand how great this is, let me share with you a few aspects about the motorcycle wave that I particularly celebrate.
(1) You can count on it to occur. This is due to the fact that most riders think it is awesome. On the worst day of your life, after your dog licks up a quart of antifreeze and your 360 goes RROD and your best friend steals your woman and your life is generally fit for a country music song, you can rest assured that when riding your bike, another biker will wave to you. That is, as long as you encounter the biker before you are T-boned by a cage running a red light.
(2) The qualification for participation is straightforward. Ride a motorcycle, see note [1].
(3) It is easy. Control speed and direction with your right hand and let your left hand say 'What it do.' No, it isn't really a question in any significant sense. See note [2].
THE ISSUE
Miyako is a beautiful place in terms of scenery, but I do 'have problem.' Technically being subject to the traffic laws of a larger island nation called 'Japan' (it is to the north some distance), traffic in Miyako drives on the opposite side of the road (left). And while cars are constructed to accommodate this, the layout of motorcycles is the same as that of the United States (right hand throttle and brake and steer, left hand WAVE and clutch and steer).
Perhaps you can already see the problem. Recalling the above Scenario, we see that driving on the right side of the road is crucial to the waving process. It allows full view of the wavers' left hands. Given that bikes are configured the same way in Miyako as they are in the US, it is (painfully) evident that an easy wave is impossible. The left hand is tragically obscured as bikers pass each other on their respective right sides. End result: there is no biker to biker waving in Miyako.
Being a foreigner in Japan is an inherently lonely experience. But there is so much that foreigners can and should do to successfully overcome that feeling, and I have been rather upbeat about the issue. However, being unable to wave to fellow motorcyclists is a tough pill to swallow. An entire people is oblivious to the awesomeness and my rides are solipsistic.
POTENTIAL CONSOLATION
I am open to the possibility that, as a foreigner, I am somehow excluded or oblivious to nonverbal communication that occurs between native riders. I can live with that. Perhaps there is a subtle nod that occurs, difficult to observe at speed but there nonetheless. Also, full face helmets are rare-- most riders wear so-called jet helmets (3/4 helmet with a large face shield) or these goony brain buckets (optimally placed on the back of the head, top of helmet facing to the rear, protecting as little of the rider as possible). Maybe a dramatic wince or knotting of the eyebrows could signal rider fellowship.
Nevermind..forget that. I get that from grandmas when I go to the grocery store.
Some other time will write about the groups of 'buggies' piloted by tourists here on the island.
NOTES
[1] There are numerous cases to be made for exceptions. Common practice typically includes motorcyclists and trikes and excludes scooters. Given my current loneliness, however, I would be as willing to wave to someone on a Vespa as I would a tot on a Big Wheel ('tot'? Who says that?). Motorized unicycle? http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=HIa0q47CXsk
Yes. How could you resist waving? He better keep focused, though-- don't expect a response.
Segway? Of course not.
[2] The wave can't be a WAVE. Typically the hand, with outstretched fingers, is lowered down below the handlebar for two seconds or so. That's it. Awesome. It just has to look slightly irregular in order to indicate your acknowledgement.
[3] That was a John Stuart Mill sentence.
Curtained windows? Yeah, that is permitted here in Miyako. I don't know the legality, but it appears to be OK, de facto. Many women here are careful to avoid sun exposure. For example, are those desert nomads at the beach, swaddled in opaque layers? NO! Locals. You can see many cars here in which the driver's side windows are shrouded by a curtain. No, I don't mean a baby-in-carseat shade thing, I mean the real deal: curtain rod, valence, and everything. I'll let you make the call.
Image from http://rjq.jp/new/200405/22.html
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