The weather has been unseasonably nice lately, so I've been taking the Yamaha to work. It lacks the luggage and comfort of the BMW but makes up for that with good looks and fun. Here's a picture of my Yamaha from behind with Pandy as my passenger.
Do you remember when you were a little kid how adults and life itself seemed to ignore you? How you felt insignificant when you were overlooked? I remember that and I always keep it in mind when dealing with kids.
So, today I'm riding the Yamaha to work and I find myself behind a schoolbus. I'm trailing it for a while and notice two girls in the back seat had turned around and are watching me. One of them waves. I wave back. Instantly, the two girls leap up and squeal. A second later, several more kids turn around to see what the excitement is.
Kids often wave at motorcycles and I enjoy returning the gesture. This bus, however, was going nuts. I'm sure the cranky bus-driver was screaming, "Get back in your seats!" But there's no denying children their attractions.
After a short while, the bus turns and I give the kids a thumb's-up to say goodbye. Again, the gesture incites immediate commotion as they all jump around to wave goodbye.
A small but pleasurable moment. It isn't every day we get to feel special. Do you ever wave at anyone on the road?
I wave to peeps all the time. Today, during my four hour drive to the coast, I did a lot of car-dancing. Enough to get a lot of trucker honks :P I waved like crazy :)
ReplyDeleteYou made those kids' day!
You totally made those kids' day! I loved waving at people when I was little, and whenever they waved back I felt like a superstar--totally the best feeling, and so easy to give. And the fact that it came from a MOTORCYCLE RIDER is triply cool. I wave at kids if they wave to me; I don't do it first because I don't want to alarm them or make them feel like they need to wave back, but if they wave I'll happily flap back at 'em.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet story. I try to be extra nice to kids too because I remember what it was like to be ignored. I totally remember the thrill of being on a bus and waving at a motorcycle or truck and having the driver respond. It was like--Oh my gosh, WE MATTER!
ReplyDeleteHow cute! When we were kids we used to love doing the horn signal for the semi truck drivers and having them blare the horn on the highway. We would giggle and get so excited.
ReplyDeleteI wave at folks sometimes. Usually, it's those unfortunate people that have to wear stuff like Statue of Liberty costumes and hold signs to advertise for tax preparation. And flagmen at construction zones (that's got to be a boring job). I do wave at kids when I notice them watching or, of course, if they wave at me first. It's just fun doing the unexpected and making people smile.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine kids' excitement over Pandy!! I may scream myself if I see you two riding Yamaha!! :-)
ReplyDeleteBtw, I usually don't wave at people I don't know, but my 5 year old does, almost everyday! We have made friends, some reluctant during our subway rides when my little one started talking and waving and smiling at the fellow passengers!lol!
Hope you are having a wonderful day!
-Jyoti
Style-Delights Blog
Let's Twitter Together
Friend and Fan on Facebook
lol i didn't do my research. i heard from my friend that it was low budget, then looked it up and they had their budget raised to $75 million for the movie at some point (no idea what it was before that). but they only spent $45 million on marketing (which is apparently low? idk $45 million seems like a lot to me but i dunno how movies work) but thanks for prompting me to do work on that!
ReplyDeletei never took the school but but i used to love seeing people on motorcycles. im too much of a scaredy cat to even drive a car though much less a motorcycle.
I always wave at kids in the traffic ~ I can just imagine how disappointing it is when a little person gives that shy little wave and smile and this horrible distracted adult just ignores them!!! The other day while out riding there was a little boy on the pavement staring at my hubby and G-Man so we hooted and pointed to the little guy and both of them drove up onto the pavement and shook the ecstatic little boy's hand ~ I think his whole year was made.
ReplyDeleteAgain ... I have to say ... you are one special human being!
Waving to a school bus full of kids is one my favorite things to do on a bike! Now that I'm on a scooter instead of a bigger motorcycle, I get a lot more waves from adults, too.
ReplyDeletePandy has a great smile. I have a bear on the back of my Yamaha scooter, and his name is Eddy. He's been with me for over 100,000 miles, wears his own leather jacket and goggles, and gets tons of thumbs up and waves. I've even had people roll down their windows to comment on my "traveling companion." There are so few times when folks interact positively on the road, with eye contact and genuine smiles, and I just love it when it happens.
I remember getting excited about people waving to us on the bus as a kid. That sounds so, so awesome!
ReplyDeleteThere's a woman who waves to cars as she takes a jog. That always makes my day.
I drive a little Miata and my car attracts children of the same age. I suspect it is small enough that they imagine they could operate it.
ReplyDeleteI bet that made their day! As a bus rider growing up, I know we always pumped our hands in the air to get truck drivers to blow their horns. Very exciting!
ReplyDeleteWe wave to our neighbors on occasion, but the roads in our little town are less friendly to bikes and walkers than other places so we don't always see people.
we got great weather all last week but this week is going to be back in the 40s. My husband has 2 bikes also and I only ride on the warrior (the other is a sports bike). He picked it up yesterday after having some work done on it and I can't wait to get out! (sort of thinking of getting a bike myself, but he thinks its too dangerous)
ReplyDeleteWhenever I ride with G-man, I'm very aware of kids in cars and 'taxis' here. Little ones are sometimes scolded by their parents and not allowed to look at us (if their parents saw in work clothes they'd not react the same way which for me is so sad as they're assuming we're low class people just because we're on steel) - but if I see them stealing a peep, I make a point of waving. Its wonderful to see their faces light up when they realise they're being acknowledged. Sometimes we go by so quickly and you almost miss the little faces but if I see a little face out the corner of my eye, I'll do my best to see that they see my wave.
ReplyDeleteBut, we don't have a permanent Pandy!
I wave at tourists on the tour buses! I love seeing them wave back! I also wave at people on the ferry and on boats.
ReplyDelete" It isn't every day we get to feel special"
ReplyDeleteWhaaaat? That's crazy talk!
I wave at other riders all the time. Sometimes I feel slighted when they dont wave back, sometimes not. I just try to remember that if they wave or not - the thing in me that decided to wave was still the same. It wasn't about reciprocation.
I also wave at kids all the time when I'm doing everyday non-motorcycle things. They'll be sitting in shopping carts, playing in their yard when I ride by on my bicycle, sitting looking out a car window... I wave. You can see when a child finds some interest in you for whatever reason. I like to acknowledge them and say "hi".
Completely wonderful! Can you imagine how "cool" those kids must have felt when they got a wave from the rockstar motorcyclist?! Special and super cool.
ReplyDeleteWhen I had a light blue beetle convertible all kids would smile and wave. Even parents.
ReplyDeleteI waved back or smiled most of the time - since the car looked like a toy I guess it made it attractive and kids just went crazy.