Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Start spreadin' the news...

Had a great couple of days in New York city. I'd never been there before. I took my first New York city cab ride. Yeehaaa!

You remember the scene on the freeway in the 2nd Matrix movie? This was more spectacular. The movie was exciting but I never really felt like I could actually die at any moment. Not so the cab ride...

The most important piece of equipment on an automobile in New York seems to be the horn. Even the engine is secondary to the horn. If your engine blows through the hood of your car in the middle of downtown Manhatten, you can still be an active participant in the traffic pattern if your horn works. In fact, with a blown engine, you'll not notice a significant decrease in speed during rush hour. Everyone goes at the same speed.

The horn is the primary means of communication among drivers in the city. After just a couple of days in the Big Apple, I started to understand some of the 'horn lingo'.

Beep: "I'm passing you, stay out of my way."
Beep-Beep: "I'm pulling in front of you, stay out of my way."
Bee-Bee-Beep: "I can't decide what I'm doing, so stay out of my way."
Beep-Bee-Bee: "Why don't you buy a Metro card?"

My cab ride was over before I could pick up any of the other phrases. I'm happy to report that I made it through the ride unscathed. And if I can make it there...I'll make it anywhere.

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