Finding My Voice
Sometimes when you’re on a bike, you need to make some noise. And I don’t mean a bicycle bell.
Watching others, it seems yelling works best. People naturally respond when they hear a human voice in crisis. However, I’ve always been more of the creative introverted type that prefers drawing thoughtful illustrations than drawing attention by yelling.
But being a creative introvert hasn’t proved good in urgent situations. So I decided to take a class in yelling from an expert.
I was a horribly untalented student, but very determined. I worked hard and practiced whenever I got the chance.
So now I think I’ve finally mastered it: a yell so loud it stops drivers in their tracks.
But I really wish drivers wouldn’t make me demonstrate it for them.
In the UK we have a great word ‘oy’ (or oi) which, like hey, instantly brings attention to you and can also be shouted for a long time ‘oyyyyyyyyyyyyy’ (emphasising the y rather than the o). You have to sound aggrieved while shouting it, so the person knows they have wronged you. Being British we can’t make a scene so we instead get a lot of emotion into our use of oy and it means a lot of different things.
However I might try ‘no’ as that seems appropriately over dramatic. I have a friend who can sing opera and shouts/sings ‘oh the humanity’ when cars get too close, which is highly amusing to watch but not one I can pull off myself.
1) BRIAN BLESSED!
2) Air Horns…I put a compressor and air horns on my motorcycle, and one time I gave a cab driver a blast as he creeped in on me one day on Memorial Ave.
When we got up to the stop light, HE APOLOGIZED! LOL!!!!!
Excellent comic!
I have stopped yelling. Drivers don’t hear
much of what you’ve said and I could feel my blood pressure rise. I use an air zounds airhorn now. Drivers hear it and so does everyone else. it is a bit shaming and horns are the language that motorists understand. I won’t leave the house now without checking that my airhorn has enough air. I can’t wait to get a “Loud” horn.
I’m a big fan of a loud” YO”. Vocal is always better. Don’t get me started on the i pod zombies on the bike path.