Doing the Wave: Prius-Style

Photos

A Nice Pair

see larger image

uploaded by mike3k

• 

  uploaded by mike3k | add comment

• 

  uploaded by seaweasl | add comment

• 

  uploaded by seaweasl | add comment

• 

  uploaded by seaweasl | add comment

• 

  uploaded by mike3k | add comment

• 

  uploaded by mike3k | add comment

Some cars have a following; old Volkswagen Beetles, vintage Porsches, even those odd little toaster shaped Scion xBs.  There are forums, drives, and DIY sites absolutely dedicated to people with a passion for their car of choice.  Seeing one of your car "cousins" in a parking lot, gas station, or on the road elicits a nod or wave of knowing.  My car of choice happens to be a Prius, which seems to stick mainly to web-based forms of devotion.  So why does a car that finds itself in the news so often not inspire such public displays of affection?

Upon first purchasing my Prius, I waved at every Prius I passed on the road.  I thought I had become one of an interesting group of people who were saving the world one gallon of gas at a time - part of a revolution of thinking about cars.  Surely, we all had this in common and with a simple wave could convey our solidarity at 65 mph.  Approximately one driver in fifteen waved back.

I joined Priuschat.com.  I looked for opportunities to make public displays of hybrid hipness by parking next to other Prii at the grocery store.    Nothing.  

But something else happened.  Non-hybrid drivers stop me regularly in parking lots to ask about my car.  Do I have to plug it in? Is it slow? Small? Expensive?  The curiousity of strangers reflects my own excitment about the New and Different in the Prius that captured my imagination in the first place. 

I know there are thousands of Prii out there right this minute. We all bought into this strange little pod car for different reasons.  But we are all connected as part of the public face of something bigger.  It could be technological or ecological or social or political.  We are a lightining rod for criticism and exultation.  Prius owners are making a statement, mostly without saying a word. 

But if you are a Prius driver, maybe next time you see another Prius, give a little wave...