John Rogers, a recently retired police officer from Monroe, also owns a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. He parked his motorcycle and transitioned to the Wrangler about three years ago. “It is interesting that a complete stranger waves at you with no regard to who you are or what you’re about,” he said. John likes to relate police issues to topics of discussion. He used a peace analogy about the recent national media reports of the contested vaccine mandates for the Chicago Police Department. He said that if those on opposing sides drove Wranglers, there would not be an issue. “If Mayor (Lori) Lightfoot and the head of the Chicago Police Union (John Catanzara) passed by each other in Jeep Wranglers, they would wave or give the peace sign to each other. Because that’s just what we do,” he said as he laughed.
No one can pinpoint the origin of The Wave. One of the theories is that the wave originated from the mutual acknowledgment of shared experiences and shared spirit of top-down adventure.
Wrangler drivers share negative experiences. For example, the amount of time and effort it takes to put the top up and down or off and on is challenging. They get caught in the rain with the top off. They must stop more frequently than most other vehicles on the road to fuel up. The tank-like handling of a bunch of heavy metal parts can be taxing. There is constant noise that drowns out conversations. Sunburns are common. But those shared experiences are all part of the Wrangler family motto: It’s a Jeep Thing.
The Wrangler drivers share positive experiences: They know that putting the top up or down, no matter how time consuming, means that there is time with the top down. That means wind in their hair. Wrangler drivers share the thrill and anxiety of getting to shelter to get the top up before the rain falls. They slow life down to wait the rain out under an overpass. They have laughable times when they got caught in the rain. The tank-like feeling also feels like added accident security. The noise that drowns out conversations means that one can experience the ride in peace. Cell phone conversations are brief with the top down. These experiences are also Jeep Things.
There are the little colorful rubber ducks that Wrangler drivers secretly pass on to each other. That too is a Jeep Thing. Only Wrangler drivers do that. The duck is a mutual culture-wide symbol of the giver’s respect of the receiver’s Jeep. Some owners collect them, but most pass them on.
John said with a grin, “There’s nothing like driving a long road under a canopy of shade trees on a sunny spring day with the top down and singing as loud as I can and nobody cares. It’s freedom. The everyday concerns get put on the back burner for a while.” John admitted he is a terrible singer.
Christi Bolen echoed that “freedom feel.” “No one really cares who the driver of the other Wrangler is,” she said. “It’s like this,” she added. “The driver of the other Wrangler can be any color, any gender, any political party, any anything. We don’t care. We Wrangler drivers enjoy and endure the same things to enjoy the feeling of freedom in our journey. There’s kind of a mutual respect to know what the other goes through to experience it.”
“Think about it,” Rhett added, “Two drivers in opposing directions, who have no idea of anything of the other, except for the vehicle they drive. They wave and give a sign of peace and respect to each other, then go about their own way. We all should always be like that.”
