If you’ve ever wondered why the horn was put on the automobile, you’re on the right track.
Despite their danger, the first cars were not built with internal horns. In fact, the very first cars had no horn at all. You can google “history of the car horn,” and you’ll probably discover that the Klaxon horn, the “aoogha” wasn’t invented until 1909. Before which, drivers, few though there were, sought other methods of alerting unsuspecting others on the road.
Today, the car horn has found many purposes outside its original intent. A little over a decade ago I made a point to never honk my horn unless absolutely necessary. Though I wasn't much of a horn honker to begin with, my gaze turned to those who yell, punishing their passengers relentlessly, but effecting no positive change.
Then I began to notice contradictions in driving culture in the countries I was visiting. Not only did the car horn seem to be used as less of an aggressor in countries like Nicaragua, Thailand, and Mozambique, but driving was different in these places, too. As an American, images and videos of car clusters in dense and highly populated Japanese cities were wildly shocking to me. I was amazed at how these drivers managed to avoid total calamity as they seamlessly navigated, like a school of fish, expansive intersections.
Once I'd stopped honking my horn, I noticed how riding passenger to a horn honker negatively impacted my mood. Not only was I exposed to the aggressive misuse of a purposeful tool, but I was the sole receiver of their verbal assault. And so, I began to explore ways to positively impact their experience, hoping to see a change in their behavior. I didn't ask my friends to stop honking their horns or to mum their complaints. Instead, I showed appreciation for their perspective. And sometimes the other driver's.
An old friend taught me this. Whenever a car would speed by, and my reaction was to insert a negative comment, he would simply say that he “assumed the driver had to take a shit.” This hilarious, very “boy” thing to say (whatever that means), would ease my frustration and forgive unwanted, reckless, and possibly dangerous behavior.
What's the point in adding stress to an already dangerous situation, anyway?
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