Talking to Machines
When you need to communicate to another human being it’s pretty straight forward.
Trying to communicate with a machine is more difficult.
I know there’s a human being behind the machine. But can’t always see them and their vocabulary is pretty limited. So when I get honked at I’m left to guess what they’re trying to express.
While I know most people are decent, I’m too afraid to turn around and engage just in case the last driver is the one behind the wheel.
Love this. Totally how I feel. Hard to hold back that middle finger when I hear a honk.
Honks are one of the worst thing. They can turn a nice happy day into a bad day.
The worst of honks degrade a place. Just as trash in the park can make it a bad place to be. The angry noises of cars can make a place worse.
I have flipped off buddies honking to say hello on the street. I still think they deserve it.
I think cars should either be converted to
1) have horns as loud inside the car as outside it.
2) Horns can only play jingles from Mexican hat dance.
In DuPage County (suburban area quite distant from Chicago where the only through routes are arterial roads), some drivers think NO BIKE belongs on the street. I bike near the curb (because it’s safer), and the motorists roar by at about 30-40 mph while yelling something at me. I have no idea what they scream because, as I said, they’re speeding by me. I call it ‘doppler speak’ because the pitch of the sound varies as they speed away. It’s funny because they actually think I can hear them.
When I get the chance, I tell them: “I can hear your engine just fine. I don’t need your horn. Thank you.”