I had a panic moment today when I went to use my horn, and it wouldn’t honk. I knew that my horn had been very weak since my return from the USA, but today it was not weak; it was dead. Tap – nothing; tap again – still nothing.
I suddenly was struck with the question of why this disturbed me so. I actually felt unsafe. I began to think that in my whole life until two years ago, I possibly honked the horn on my cars a total of, maybe, ten times. In stark contrast, I probably honk my horn at least that many times in a week here in Malawi.
In a country where traffic signals and laws are regarded as suggestions and not requirements, I have come to depend on the ability to honk. Honk for the security guard to open the gate; honk for the pedestrian to discontinue his game of frogger across the roadway; honk for the bicycle to realize that car trumps bicycle; honk for the driver who creates a third lane of traffic where there are barely two; honk for the friend whose attention you want to get. I suddenly acknowledged and valued an object I had taken for granted.
So tonight I bid adieu to my old horn and welcome my new. Ah, I feel better already!
No comments:
Post a Comment