When to honk

Car horns are a funny thing. At times they can be incredibly useful, like when someone is sleeping at a red light or (more importantly) if someone is backing up and doesn’t see you there. A quick “honk” solves it.

On the other hand, the horn can be a way to vent frustration. They can sometimes be directed at a specific driver that did something you don’t agree with, but it’s often just vented to the world at large with no real outcome expected. Something like this:

As Seth Godin recently said, “Honking at traffic serves no purpose other than to express a need to control the uncontrollable”.

This leads to two quick thoughts:

First, you don’t have to always “do something”. Honking in standstill traffic might feel good, but is of no benefit to anyone. If you can control yourself, then control yourself.

Second, I see feedback to others in the same way. Sometimes feedback is appropriate and useful, and worth a quick “honk”. Other times, if you feel the need to give useless feedback simply so you can vent off some frustration, do your best to take a breath and save it for another day.

Originally published at https://www.mickmel.com on June 23, 2021.