Thank you

Anyone who has been to Japan, or indeed seen any Japanese movies will know all about the bow. In Japan it has a very important place:

You would like to show your servitude: you bow
You would like to ask for a shopping bag: you bow
You would like to enter through a doorway: you bow
You would like to say thank you: you bow
You would like to give something to someone: you bow
You would like to receive something from someone: you bow
You would like to say hello: you bow
You would like to say goodbye: you bow
You would like to express your apologies: you bow
You would like to start eating: you bow

and the list goes on (it really, really does)...

So what, I hear you ask, does one do in a car when wanting to express something to another driver (no, not the finger)?

Well, yes: They bow.

Though personally I find it a bit dangerous to bow and drive, so it becomes more of a nod.
The biggest problem is that the usual protocol is to nod, and then they nod, and then you nod, and then they nod... and the nodding ensues until one of you drives off far enough out of sight or gets motion sick. If I am the passenger I go for the full dip, but needless to say I often feel like I am one of those 'drinking birds' the you see in the sciences labs back in high school...

But in instances such as when you are merging and someone lets you merge in front if them, how can you bow? After all, to the car behind you if you were to bow it would only look like you are hunching over the steering wheel, or perhaps trying to pick up that M&M you dropped in your lap. The answer Japan has come up with.....

A quick flash of your hazard lights.

Yes, it's a little blink of thanks to lighten up an otherwise grey road. Mind you, the first time we encountered such a thing, we thought "This idiot can't merge properly and now they decide to stop randomly in the middle of the road with their hazards on". But now that we understand the system, it is a goodie- especially as it works at all times of day.

So I think that this 'blink of thanks' should be brought all around the world. I know that Australia doesn't have the same 'bowing' problem as Japan, but how often does the old "wave of thanks" look like a  middle finger?

So come'on everyone- next time someone lets you merge in front of them, why don't you say thank you the Japanese way... With a flash.