after a weekend visit from my parents, who live in iowa, i have had cultural differences on the brain. laying next to my pantless friend this morning (the radiator in my apartment is scathing hot, so angela had to resort to stripping in order to sleep), i heard a car honk outside. since i moved to a place far away from the street, being awoken by honks has been a rare event. one thought led to another, and i started to think about car horns (they seem so...random) and how a car honk in chicago is gravely different from a car honk in waverly, iowa.a car honk in chicago is used in the following manners:
succession of honks: the ever-present car alarm. either there is an epidemic of sensitive car alarms in chicago, or many a car is being broken into.
short honks: the light is green. GO. OR...i'm driving through an alley, and i'm warning anyone who may be approaching the sidewalk that parallels the alley's exit.
long honk: what the hell are you doing? GOOOOOOOO!
laying on horn: i am frustrated that i'm not in control of the traffic, so i'm going to lay on my horn as if the sound vibrations can magically move the cars in front of me.
however, car honks back home have a different language. in the rare even that the horn is used, it means:
one honk: i'm here! come out of the house!
double honk: bye! hi!
and that concludes horn usage in waverly.
funny thing, that horn.
honk.
And those are the exact only reasons I have ever honked my horn. Many times after a car has almost caused me to be in an accident, I have thought, "I should've honked there" but it is not an instinct. :)
ReplyDelete