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10/27/2023
Street talk.
Traffic on the streets of Ha Noi is like a giant living organism. Amoebic-like, street-traffic pulses and surges to a rhythm of its own…enveloping and devouring empty spaces only to create new space in its own wake. Wave upon wave of moving vehicles engage in constant communication - a honk here, a honk there…the incessant chatter that bring order to chaos.
In America, honking of horns generally reflects annoyance, frustration, anger, or a warning to a careless driver that they need to back off because they have wandered into the honker's self-proscribed bubble of personal space. In Vietnam's north, the “horns of Ha Noi” shout for all to hear, “I am here! Move aside! I am intent on occupying your current space!”…and people simply move aside.
Interestingly, in all my time stuck in traffic jams or commuting in rush-hour traffic in Ha Noi, I have never heard the driver of a motorbike or a car ever express frustration or annoyance when cut off in traffic or stopped dead in traffic gridlock. Nor have I seen any verbal altercations, fist-shaking, chest-puffing, chest thumping, fisticuffs, or all-out road rage. To me this is really no surprise. After all, to my knowledge, amoeba don't eat themselves.
One final thought. I know the streets talk. Whenever you walk against the flow of traffic on the sidewalk, you can actually feel a gentle traffic generated breeze whispering against your skin.