City Noise

There is a constant chatter of noises here in the city. Much of it is honking either by bikes, scooters or various types of motor vehicles. At first it is quite overwhelming, but after some time you learn to tune out what isn’t important to you at any given moment. I had been trying to figure out why this trip to Shanghai hasn’t been quite as overwhelming as far as street noise and understanding traffic. At first I thought maybe the streets were calmer or maybe less noisy, but what I really realized is that I have become seasoned, the noise is the same. What I really realized is that the street noise is much like a new babies cry. There are different cries for different needs. When you bring your first baby home it is all just noise that you feel helpless to understand and after a bit of time desperately trying to understand you start to get it. There are different cries for being hungry, being uncomfortable, wanting attention, really hurting, the list goes on. With each new baby you bring home the process is quicker, still a learning process because the dialect is slightly different, but nevertheless you learn what each cry means. Honking in the city is no different. There is constant communication going on and at first there is a great desire to want to know what it all means. Then slowly it unravels short, quick honks mean “Here I am, watch out for me”, short, a bit more forceful honks mean “Watch out I’m coming through” and the loud, long, forceful honks mean “Get the heck out of my way because you have 2 seconds and I’m going to crash into you!!”. It’s really pretty easy. The scooters know it, the bikes know it and now I do too. I am a seasoned parent and a somewhat seasoned traffic obeyer. 