MICHAEL R. FRENCH
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Read Two Chapters
  • Blog
  • Praise
  • Contact
  • the writer’s quandary


MICHAEL R. FRENCH - AUTHOR BLOG

When Is Honking Your Horn Necessary?

7/8/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Forty years ago, my wife and I and our two young children embarked on a three week trip to New Zealand.  We rented a small camper van and drove everywhere, amazed not just by the number of sheep, forests, rivers and snow-crowned mountains, but the steady temperament of the population.  The vibe was 1950s America and everyone was middle-class.  The locals never seemed  in a rush.  No one got upset or angry.  Copacetic was the status quo.  The only person I heard ever using his horn—I swear this to be true—was me.
​
​I remember that moment well, making a right turn behind a car I judged to be too slow.  I honked without thinking, from an impatience bred in urban America, I imagine.  It was  just a brief brassy stab, but it seemed to hang in the air for a while.  Quizzical looks darted my way from nearby drivers, pedestrians, even shopkeepers, as if something was wrong.  Had there been a  collision, a heart attack in our family, or was my camper van in trouble?  None of the above, or course.   I felt like getting out of my vehicle and apologizing to everyone.  Instead, embarrassed, I kept my eyes on the road and left that city, tail between my legs. I never honked for the rest of our trip.
​

The New Zealanders had it right. Gratuitous honking should be unacceptable. Absolutely, use your horn if an accident seems imminent, or maybe a warning to an erratic or possibly drunk driver.   Otherwise, I don’t know anybody who doesn’t flinch when someone blares in his horn at them for no good reason.   At the risk sounding like a driver’s ed teacher, one’s horn should not be a musical instrument, nor an emotional outlet, nor a signal that you’re late for something and you’re blaming others for slowing you down.  Driving your car within ten feet of another’s bumper, blinking your lights madly until the driver change lanes, is telling the world that either you’re on drugs, have a very bad temper, or your stress level is heading to the moon.  If you’re totally out of control (road rage,  allegedly increasing at seven percent a year, obviously means putting more than your own life in danger), pull over for over coffee.
​
In a country of approximately 270 million registered vehicles (only China has more),  self-control is not a luxury.
​
When the future eventually becomes the present, and we’re hunkered down in our self-driving vehicles, what happens then to the lowly car horn?  Does the computer in my car decide when and where to use it, and how long the duration should be?  If I’m in the backseat, can I override the computer if I think it’s way too horn happy?   Can I finally be free to customize my horn sound, much like choosing the ring tone on my phone?  Until the day comes when self-driving vehicles are truly immune to accidents, something soothing to the ear would be nice.  I’m thinking Mozart.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Michael R. French

    Michael French is a graduate of Stanford University and Northwestern University. He is a businessman and author who divides his time between Santa Barbara, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.



    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    October 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    October 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    August 2017
    July 2017
    January 2017
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    2020 Election
    Alex Baten
    America
    Artist
    Artistic Life
    Author
    Author Blog
    Author French
    Author On TV
    Author On Writing
    Author's Note
    Author Social Media
    Beaches
    Be Respectful
    Best Seller
    Book Excerpt
    Book Reading
    Book Review
    Capital Attack
    Character Gender
    Characters
    Characters Come Alive
    Characters With Facebook
    Children
    Civility
    Ckiff Hanger
    Clean Up
    Cliffhanger
    Cliff Hanger : Jump Before You Get Pushed"
    Climate Change
    Coming Together
    Contemporary Novel
    Covid -19
    Curious Citizen
    Dan Mayfield
    David Attenborough
    Death
    Democracy
    Depression
    Disability
    Donald Trump
    Election
    Excape
    Fiction
    Fiction Novel
    Future
    George Floyd
    George R. R. Martin
    Gloria Soto
    High School
    Honking
    Honking Horn
    Human Impact
    Jaleel Robeson
    Komodo Island National Marine Park
    Lasting Love
    Life Of An Artist
    Love
    Magic
    Men
    Men And Women
    Michael French
    Michael French Author
    Michael French Blog
    Michael French Santa Barbara
    Michael French Santa Fe
    Michael R French
    Midterms
    Midwest Book Review
    Millenials
    Murder Mystery
    Mystery
    Mystery Novel
    Nature
    New Mwxican
    New Storytelling
    Novel
    Oakley Ealbott
    Once Upon A Lie
    Once Upon A Lie By Michael R French
    Once Upon A Lie Excerpt
    Originality
    Parenting
    Parkland
    Plastics
    Politics
    Precariat
    President-Elect
    Proletariat
    Questions
    Read
    Reading
    Relevance And Relatability
    Santa Fe
    Santa Fe Author
    Santa Fe New Mexico
    Self Esteem
    Share A Meal
    Share A Neal
    Student Activism
    Study
    Suicide
    Take A Break
    Taking Nothing For Grated
    Teenagers
    Teen Voting
    The Morning Brew
    The Reconstruction Of Wilson Ryder
    Tipping
    Trash
    Troubling Times
    Trust
    TV Appearance
    United States
    Voting
    Why Men Fall Out Of Love
    WilsonRyder
    Writer
    Writing
    Writing Charaters

    RSS Feed

Home
About
Contact


​Copyright 2020Michael R. French
All Rights Reserved


​Website Design by Artotems Co.
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Read Two Chapters
  • Blog
  • Praise
  • Contact
  • the writer’s quandary