Dec 3, 2009
One pleasant (albeit ancillary) result of cell phones
Car horns were once a normal early-morning neighborhood sound as people picked friends up for work.
Not anymore, thanks to ubiquitous cellularity.
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Not in my neighborhood. Car horns are still the normal early-morning neighborhood sound. But then, I live in the part of Phoenix where most people are illegal or low income.
I kind of like it actually.
I hate it.
But I see the same thing… I wish people would be more considerate.
We lived in a townhouse where a neighbor’s ride would wake me up every morning with a truck horn.
Every day I woke up angry, and wishing I had a tennis ball to throw at the windsheild.
…and I still feel that way about loud stereos!
I wish the trash truck (that comes during naptime) would also discover this modern convenience.
oh, so do I. especially at my dad’s old house: the garbage trucks would come at 6, and the recycling trucks at 6:30. After that, it was impossible to sleep.
I wish we could dial the license plate of the car in front of us. Then I can call to discuss with the driver that three-lane-cross-merge maneuver that almost took my entire family out. That, and I wouldn’t have to roll up the windows when discussions get heated over who arrived at the parking space first.
That’s a great idea.
I didn’t know people still picked people up for lifts. I thought we were all too busy driving ourselves everywhere in our own cars!
I honk goodbye at my 2 year old as I leave from dropping her off at daycare (it was their idea). I love to see my little girl beaming and waving in the window, though I always am a little self-conscious about the neighbors.
I like that you use words like ancillary.
And even cellularity.
But this technological development is canceled out by the late night horn honking of people locking their car with the remote control. Who came up with that bad idea?
A car horn is an emergency warning device. Nothing more.
Agreed.
I agree! And I have one of those cars that beeps when you lock it no matter what!! ugh!! On my husband’s car, you can arm/lock the car with a door open and the horn does not beep. Shut the door and then you’ve accomplished the same thing… QUIETLY!
“And you know what else…”
It is funny that I am reading this now because I was up late last night in our urban neighborhood (past midnight) and someone outside was honking over and over and over again. I kid you not, every 10 seconds or so for 3-4 minutes. That’s a LONG time! I watched…. eventually her buddy came outside and off they went. Ridiculous! :(
But the car horns had the added benefit of telling the lazy that it was time to get up, time to start the day, and time to roll out of bed. The cell phone insulates the unproductive from ever being prodded or goaded into productivity. The other irony is that as cell phones multiplied, so did cars. As of 1998, there are more cars in America than licensed drivers. It was the pre-cell phone age that was the high era of ride-sharing and carpooling and hitchhiking. Ubiquitous cellularity is synonymous with ubiquitous insularity, and an increased narcissism/selfishness to the culture overall. I’ll take the honking horns over cell phones any day.
It took me five minutes to find my wife at the airport instead of the usual 1/2 hour since I could call her and find out exactly where she was.