It’s a Jeep thing...you wouldn’t understand.
For as long as I can remember every time that someone asked me what my “dream vehicle” was it was always without fail a Jeep Wrangler. Well, as luck would have it my Acadia blew up one day, and I got the opportunity to get a new vehicle. So I took myself right down to Shifferly’s and test drove my dream, and it was love at first test drive. I signed my name and she was mine!
I quickly immersed myself in all things Jeep. I joined all of the Facebook groups I could to learn more about the culture that is the Jeep community. My favorite ended up being the meaning behind the “Jeep Wave”. For those who don’t know the story goes: That when the war was over the commanding officers got to bring home their Jeeps. So when they saw another Jeep on the road they gave the V for victory to each other. So when Jeep’s pass each other we don’t technically wave to each other. We just do a simple peace sign as the wave. Coming from a family who have served every time I get to do the wave I get a sense of pride about it.
Another thing that almost never goes unnoticed by anyone outside of the Jeep community, is the ducks. I honestly don’t think that I can go anywhere without someone commenting on my dash full of ducks.
It was something I learned about in my education of the Jeep culture. The story goes that Allison Paliament, a lady from Canada, was working during COVID, and the company that she worked for in America gave her a Jeep to drive with an American license plate. During one of her stays in Canada someone said not so nice things to her and brought her day down. She decided to rise above the words, and went and purchased rubber ducks and wrote, “Have a nice day” on them. Many people have since then taken the concept, and put their own spin on it, but that is the origin of the Duck Duck Jeep craze.
The basic idea though remains the same, spread joy. I can tell you on a good 95% of my ducks who gave it to me, or where I got it. My sons, Noah and Austin, and myself love running errands on a Saturday or Sunday and ducking every Jeep in the parking lot. Sometimes the person catches us and ducks us back. Sometime we just leave a duck and go on about our day. Either way we have a really great time spreading cheer. We always get excited to check if someone ducked us, and the giggles that ensue when we are is something magical itself.
So between the wave and the ducks, the connection I have with random strangers is the main reason I get caught in parking lots talking for ten minutes or more sometimes, while my husband and kids sit there waiting. We talk about our ducks and our Jeep and how much joy it brings us. In fact ducking Jeeps has actually been so well received that Subaru’s choose cows, and they do Moo Moo Subaru. Bronco’s do it too, and they leave horse’s on each other. For many people they won’t under stand the thrill, but for the Jeeper’s that do, we take our ducks pretty seriously.
The wave, ducks, and the freedom to take physical parts off my car will always be the thrill for me. Splashing through big puddles or feeling the wind flow through my hair while the top and doors off, nothing compares to feeling of it. And if at this point you still don’t see the big deal about it will I will just say, “It’s a Jeep thing and you probably wouldn’t understand”. So Happy National Jeep day to those who do understand.
Keep calm and Jeep on!