Waymos Don't Honk

I continue to wage my one-person war against the invasion of driverless cars in my beloved city and am losing two ways. They continue to multiply without my permission and continue to piss me off every time I see one, which is about once every 30 seconds when I’m out and about. Nothing new here—I’ve griped about them before. But today I added another reason to wish they never had been made and hope against reason that they disappear.

 

In my earlier post Back on the Streets, I celebrate the good feeling of being out again amongst protestors, but was missing the songs and music. I ended that post with “Next time bring some drums.” So I showed up again at another protest  in front of the Tesla Showroom on Van Ness and it looked like someone had the same idea. Not only were there drums, but there was an entire band with a name—The Liberation Brass Band. I had brought my tambourine and jumped right into the swingin’ music well played by men and women on horns and drums, with some spirited chanting mixed it. Again, the colorful and clever signs were in abundance and best of all, the cars on this heavily-trafficked street punctuated the music with tootin’ their horns in solidarity. Lots of them. Reminded me of the scene outside of Yancey’s Bar and Grill when the Giants won the World Series or the Warriors won the NBA Championship. Collective euphoria and more fuel to the fire from the horns of passing cars. 

 

But all the damn Waymos on Van Ness Avenue were silent. And the sad riders sitting alone with their invisible driver had nothing to add to the energy. Amongst a thousand reasons to stop replacing humans with machines is this: Waymos don’t honk. No way to express joy or offer resistance to the dissolution of democracy, just silently gliding through the streets in their compliance. 

 

Meanwhile, honk if you like this photo.