I almost always give it but almost never receive it.

yes and yes:)

I always give a thank you wave, but I don't always get one. Didn't I see that on an episode of Seinfeld once where Jerry didn't get a thank you wave from someone?

Yes.
And yes, I look to see if there's a wave when I let someone in because it makes both the sender and the receiver feel positive. I hope that if I wave "thank you" the generous person sees the gesture.

Of course.

Well when I can. I'm either driving the 65 mustang (takes two hands no power steering and its stick) or the truck, again stick.

with both hands occupied I nod or yell "thanks" but then I drive with windows down a lot.....

Yes I do wave a thank you. I don't really look for one back, I try to keep my eyes on the road.

My grandma taught me to do that. So, I always do it (even with tinted windows). However, I rarely see it done back. But, when someone does gesture if I have let them in, it is nice to know that there are still nice and thankful people in the world.

1) I like to thank people for letting me cut in front of them. It makes me feel good and I suppose it makes the other person also feel good.

It is a nice situation when it happens.

In some special cases it could be not possible to make this thanking gesture or not worth while for various reasons. So I am not really waiting for someone to make this gesture.


2) Here some reasons why you could eventually not get such a gesture from me:
- if I can see you very accurately, I could choose to replace the hand gesture with a head gesture or with a broad smile. You could eventually not see that, especially if you are waiting for a hand gesture.

- I could have to concentrate on some other traffic issue, or the phone would just be ringing, or my wife would just be saying something or the children in the car were annoying. I know it could be somewhat impolite, but it could not be so easy for me to concentrate

- I could also imagine that you did not let me cut through because of politeness, but just because you did not check that the traffic was going further and were just dreaming

3) Sometimes, I also see people behaving in a negative way in such a traffic situation. Of course, I don't appreciate it.
But because of all those reasons, and some that I could not know, I am not expecting such a thanking gesture and I am usually not annoyed if it does not come.


4) One of the best way to keep driving for me a good experience is to do those little polite acts and gestures and to keep cool and do not let negative feelings grow inside me. In some cases, I think it could also save my life.