Tag Archives: British Columbia

Aboard the Editor’s Pirate Ship – Learning from Pirate Communities

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Welcome to Learning from Pirate Communities, one of the best-selling series here at The Daily Gumboot. Here’s the deal: we participants in humanity operate within a paradigm or framework or clusterf&$k of themes and ideas (gender, race and culture, environmental stewardship, ideology, weapons, business, entrepreneurship, art, tasty drinks, and fashion). Many people from many academic disciplines explore such themes from a myriad of perspectives. The Editor-in-Chief of this publication discusses such ideas through a lens of Piratology, because, hey, pirates represent an edutaining and approachable subject that interests people. Consequently, we can learn a lot from pirates. Just read more to find out!

Will clever commentary be backed up by accountable piracy?

Will clever commentary be backed up by accountable piracy?

Today we will be discussing tax, representation and rejecting an unfair socioeconomic system to, possibly, become a pirate.

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’ve heard about the HST. Maybe you even have an opinion about it. From Bill Tieleman to Bill Vander Zalm to Kurt Heinrich to Kevin Milligan, people have opinions that run the gamut of sensation; from raging social injustice to practically good policy. Whether you despise taxes altogether or just hate this one, I have a solution for you. Become a pirate! Literally, if you like (I’ll get to that), but metaphorically is probably a better solution for all of us (at least until the puffy shirt factory starts pumping things out a little faster). Here’s the deal: many people feel unrepresented by the HST, just like many people feel unrepresented or cheated by the GST, income taxes, the Carbon Tax, exorbitantly priced Canucks tickets, lack of affordable housing, police, universities, Walmart, Translink, and talent agencies (honestly, I think you’re a great singer and were treated unfairly). We’re really good at complaining, but not as good at being accountable for our ideas – ideas like collectively changing and/or withdrawing from an unfair, broken, corrupt, and imbalanced system that seems to encourage and reward corruption, incompetence and general shady shenanigans. We can do better if we learn from pirate communities.Even the University of Chicago recognizes the power of pirates as educational tools!

People, our community is thoroughly more positive, intelligent and cohesive than this rather unequal, unrepresentative and restrictive paradigm of governance allows. Perhaps we can do better by rejecting the system and embracing our inner entrepreneur – or inner pirate. I understand if this scares you. But there are certainly models for change out there, too. First, let’s explore taxation and democracy in a historical and global context and then examine community and unfair political decisions from a piratical perspective:

Mad at being unrepresented? Maybe we should actually be a democracy.

A recent article in The Independent by Johann Hari suggests that modern

Embrace your inner entrepreneur and start asking questions about the system to which you belong.

Embrace your inner entrepreneur and start asking questions about the system to which you belong.

day pirates, like their historic brothers and sisters, have rejected today’s unequal, corrupt and punishing global “system.” Hari cites the last words of William Scott, a pirate hanged in Charleston, South Carolina during the Golden Age of Piracy: “What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirateing to live.” BC’s democracy makes me chuckle. Heck, our perception of democracy makes me chuckle. Democratically speaking, most of us don’t usually vote for the party in power (ie. the NDP in the 1990s – never more than 45% of the vote – and the current BC Liberal government – 46% of the vote – and Federal Conservative – 37% of the vote – government were brought to power with less than half of the popular vote, which doesn’t even account for the tens of thousands of people who didn’t vote because of their dissatisfaction with the system and the people steering it).

One hundred years before the French Revolution, pirate ships – or pirate companies – were run on the ideals of liberty, equality and brotherhood. It was the rule, rather than the exception. According to scholar and fellow Piratologist, David Cordingly, author of Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates, at times, it was difficult to even get a pirate ship going anywhere. You see, the crew actually voted on a destination before the captain set a course; arguably, this accounted for pirates’ time being spent in warm places like the Caribbean, Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Malacca. This whole time, we’ve been looking to France and the US for our democratic models, when we really should’ve been looking towards pirate ships!

Pirates drafted and signed “The Articles of Piracy” before each voyage. These  articles regulated the distribution of plunder, the scale of compensation for injuries in battle, and outlined basic rules for shipboard life (ie. no one is allowed to drink all the rum and/or wear the captain’s eye patch in jest) as well as punishments for those who broke the rules (ie. you wore the eye-patch in jest and now the captain, who turned out to be pretty sensitive, won’t come out of his cabin and, well, he’s got the map). After the articles were written, every pirate aboard signed them. Sure, it’d be tedious, but perhaps we need to re-draft our terms of agreement with our leaders before each election or major decision that affects so many stakeholders.

The Articles seem pretty darn democratic, and I wonder what we can take from these lessons on a pirate ship and apply to our system. After all, the crew aboard the Jolly British Columbian seems to be talking about steering the ship in a new direction with recent movements against the HST.

Seriously, we’re crying about the HST?

When things go bad here on the West Coast of Canada, I like to put them in a global perspective. How bad are they, really? From the BBC to CNN to Al Jazeera, the world suddenly became very interested in Somali pirates after they hijacked a Saudi tanker, the Sirius Star. They did what nobody thought possible and they got noticed. Like, really noticed. Oh, and they made $3 million from the ransom, too.  Sure, many – or most – of the pirates are gangsters. No, this doesn’t make hostage-taking okay and, no, this blog does not condone hostage taking (although, for the record, Theo Lamb is a fully trained hostage negotiator). But this article has outlined some of the ways that these seagoing thugs are dealing with a recessive global economy. “Pirates were the first people to rebel against this world,” says Hari. They didn’t like the rigour, restrictions and “oppressiveness” of the seafaring alternatives of, say, the Merchant Marine or Royal Navy, so they chose a more independent, democratic and risky life at sea.”

In his article, Hari examines the circumstances by which many Somali fishermen have been thrust into the world of piracy. After the fall of the country’s government in

Somali pirates or the Somali Coast Guard? You decide!

Somali pirates or the Somali Coast Guard? You decide!

1991, Africa’s longest coastline (Somalia’s coast spans about 2,000 miles) has been unprotected. This power-vacuum has provided a perfect opportunity for the international fishing industry to steal Somalia’s food supply and use the region as a dumping ground for nuclear waste (“yes: nuclear waste,” says Hari – cadmium and mercury were also, allegedly, thrown in the mix). Hari interviewed Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, who claims that “there has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention” of such a gross example of pollution. But one can also see how market forces have driven them to think outside the box, get creative, take risks, and work together in innovative ways in a new, community-based entrepreneurial system that exists beyond the one the world helped break.

In a recent Time magazine article, Ishaan Thardoor argues that “Somali piracy has metastasized into the country’s only boom industry. Most of the pirates, observers say, are not former fishermen, but just poor folk seeking their fortune. Right now, they hold 18 cargo ships and some 300 sailors hostage — the work of a sophisticated and well-funded operation.”Recent findings show that in excess of $300 million US in shellfish is being stolen from the Somali coast by illegal trawlers each year. They have no government to speak of. Organizations are dumping nuclear waste in their waters and on their land. Somalia just might be the worst place on Earth. Kinda puts the global recession and BC’s tax-shift  in perspective, eh? They don’t “fit” in the current economic system, which is probably why the independent Somalian news site, WardheerNews, found that 70 per cent of Somalians “strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence.” Some even call them the “Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia”! And we can most certainly call them rejectors of an unfair system swirling in chaos.

Notice the clothes and "things" coming out of the character's pockets. Not everyone on Earth has things.

Well, this doesn't seem fair at all!

But, um, yeah. The HST is tough, too. After all, a study released by the Recent Findings Institute reported that the HST is “oppressive” and a “betrayal” of the BC people mostly because of the amount of nuclear waste in it.

Now. Obviously a good binary opposition can make any argument look ridiculous by putting it next to, well, something ridiculous. In any case, if you do in fact believe that, in the context of all things British Columbia, the HST is grossly unfair and a violation of our democracy, perhaps you might consider breaking from the system to which you are very connected. Find some friends. Find a boat. And change your life. Maybe start small, you know, by taking your illegal downloading of music one step further: download a movie or some software and then some tv shows and then, when you’re ready, overtake a ship by force and pillage its contents! BC has a lot of water, you know. Or perhaps you’d like to explore the ways in which your community (local, regional, online, or otherwise) can be used as a vehicle for positive social change within this HST-laden system of ours. Whatever the case, I encourage you to be a democratic, creative and entrepreneurial pirate. If things in BC are really so bad, there are some great historical and contemporary models of fighting injustice to explore, such as the inclusive and democratic experience aboard a pirate ship. Whatever direction you choose, be sure to exercise collaboration, safety and aim to have your community’s best interests in mind; sure, such ideas might seem matter-o-fact, but – every now and then – it doesn’t happen.

So there it is. Yaaarrrrrrrrrghhhhhh welcome!

- Sir John the Pirate Piratologist

Young people who play in parks

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Taking one for the team; can you do that whilst walking in a park?

Taking one for the team; can you do that whilst walking in a park?

“Rather than formal team sports, maybe people will be doing more walking or dancing or playing in parks. I think each of us has a personal responsibility to attend to this,” said Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid following her recent announcement that there will be sweeping funding cuts to high school athletic programs. Read the full article in The Globe and Mail or, well, by the time this blog post is published I’m sure the quote will have been played on every channel and written about in every paper in British Columbia. You might even have it memorized. Now, on its own MacDiarmid’s quote is interesting enough. Coupled with a recent study by Mary Pat MacKinnon, Sonia Pitre, Judy Watling, it becomes reflective of a larger social issue and political challenge. And that challenge is youth engagement. The article is called Lost in Translation: (Mis)understanding Youth Engagement. Well, youth, something so many of you value is being trimmed and cut; now is your time to show BC whether or not you’re  apathetic, disengaged and politically ADHD. For the record, a lot of us think you are.

Look. I have nothing against playing in parks. Ms. MacDiarmid is correct that more of us need to be active in our leisure time, which is why I am happy to say that I played in parks when I was five and I play in them now. Thing is, between the ages of five and now, I was a pretty darn good athlete. Competitive, some might say. And frolicking amongst the jungle gyms and swings and water fountains/pools of parks isn’t really the same as playing team sports. The health and fitness benefits aside, let’s focus on community-building-skills glened from youth athletics. Well, there’s leadership, for starters. Giving and receiving feedback from peers happens with team sports, too. Commitment, accountability and learning from success/failure are amazing parts of competitive athletics. Caring about something bigger than yourself (ie. the team) is also incredibly valuable. Sportsmanship, fair play, ethics, morality, and collaborating on a group-oriented – and group-owned – vision is useful for, say, an arena like politics or corporate leadership, too. And then there is the true beauty of when the whole thing comes together. When your team wins and the group shares a collective moment of reflection on how the above skills got them to the pinnacle of youth athletics, a provincial championship in the best place on Earth.

But going for long walks or playing a bit of afternoon frolf (“what, oh, the frolf courses are gone too? Man, that’s too bad”) is a fine substitution for youth athletic programs, right?

Currently, I fill the community role as “young professional” – am I a “working family”? no, I’m definitely not – so, besides my recollecting about the glory days, I don’t have a vested interest in fighting the good fight for youth athletics. Like I said, I do exercise by riding my bike to and from work, walking and kicking a ball around in parks. I love it. And, quite honestly, this isn’t my battle to win (and I would totally win, because that’s what I did and that’s why some people stopped being my friend). It’s a battle for youth to wage. Hey, recent findings show that young people will look past their entitlementia and take a stand for things in which they believe. There is a lot of data out there suggesting that young people are involved in all kinds of political causes. Such findings argue that a 135% increase in youth voting gave Barack Obama his presidential victory. And the (Mis)Understanding Youth Engagement article listed above shows that, while Generation Y (people born after 1979) is very engaged in “small p” political life (ie. community organizing, business lobbying, environmental groups, Johnism), youth today are disenchanted and uninspired by political leaders. Well, young people might’ve just been given a reason to become inspired.

I work with talented, visionary, charismatic, and amazing young people every day. A lot of them are former high school athletes. And a lot of them don’t know who or what Mark Carney and the HST are. So, to say the least, I am very interested to see how the Millennials handle this challenge. Will they engage the issue, or ask their parents to do it for them?

Good luck and have fun with it, BC youth. If it doesn’t work out, you can always dance with me in a park.

- JCH

The High School Reunion

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There are certainly several words to describe the cultural experience that is the 10 year high school reunion: anxious, awkward, vengeance, respect, restitution, empowered, excited, nervous, superawesome, connection, justification, snobbery, aloofness, interesting, “why did I come here?”, shenanigans, friendship, ridiculous, gong-show, and bitchin’.

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Some Classy Folks from the Class of '99 with Special Guests

A few weekends ago I threw down such a gauntlet. Nearly 200 graduates from GP Vanier’s class of 1999 – some accompanied by husbands, wives, partners, girlfriends, boyfriends, and wingpeople -  descended on the Comox Valley’s Filberg Centre to catch-up, share stories and assess the “success-to-fat-to-bald” ratio of their classmates.  For the record, our classy class was, like, 540 people who’s graduating slogan was, I kid you not, “the best there was, the best there is, the best there ever will be.” Democracy, not unlike the WWF, ruled at our school. We were also a talented group of kids, it’s true. And, to this day, pro-wrestling fans are still one of the most powerful lobby groups in North America.

Moving on…

Here is some context and a pre-reunion backstory. After a heated argument with my father about my “post-modern” approach to wood stacking, I left home at the age of 18 and hooked up with a group of Chinese pirates heading for Singapore. After a few years at sea followed by a brief stint attending some of Eastern Canada’s more decorated bastions of higher education – and Bishop’s University – I basically lost touch with all but a few people from my graduating class. In high school, well, I wasn’t overly picked on, but wasn’t overly invited to parties, either. Sports, school and student journalism kept me busy and edutained, but by no means was high school a “top 10 life experience” in The Journey of John to this day [Editor's Note: if high school is in your top three life experiences, I recommend you speak to one of South America's leading Life Coaches, Martin Renauld]; or take up a non-vice-related hobby, any hobby, really].

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Two of the Evening's Best Conversationalists

Needless to say, I was eager to arrive at the reunion and re-connect with as many people as possible. Being lucky enough to have a witty, kind and gorgeous fiancee on my arm was certainly a confidence booster, as was my sporting a pretty decent “success-to-fat-to-bald” ratio. It was time for the The Reunion Experience to begin!

SFU Business Professor Ginger Grant encourages people to “find their tribe” in the world of work as in life. Well, Class of ’99 grads, many of us did just that on reunion night. The tables of people and circles of conversation maintained the cliquish structure of our high school days, which is expected, I guess – I mean, why would you want to rediscover doucheyness from decades-passed? Thing is, people change. Speaking of change, as the drinks flowed like, well, drinks, people left the safety of their tables and ventured out into a delightful fray of messiness, mustaches, mingling, and machismo. Man, even some of the cool girls talked to the people they looked right through 10 years ago! Plato would’ve been proud, as the modestly priced and modestly mixed drinks allowed us to “enjoy each others’ company and chiefly refresh [ourselves] with learned discussion.” Believe it or not, there was a heck of intellectualism, social leveling and man-on-man bum pinching at the Class of ’99 Reunion, which had a little to do with alcohol, sure, but more to do with, as co-Valedictorian Ian Cullen put it, us being a “a pretty cool and down-to-Earth group of people.” For the record, this is the eleventh time Mr. Cullen has been quoted in juxtaposition to Plato.

Food and drink. Check! Cool people. Check! Interesting and, hopefully, amazing stories. Well, read on, my friends.

Here are the five best stories and/or things about the Class of 99 Reunion:

1. Bob Atwood Invented Facebook. At least that’s the word on the street; but it will be hard for Bob to have a voice or presence within this 250 million member medium because, understanably enough, he doesn’t use Facebook. If anyone wants to start a “Bob Atwood Invented Facebook” group, well, I’m sure it would catch fire like Athens and our friend would greatly appreciate the irony. Mark Zuckerberg, beware, as you have some of the stingiest legal minds from Vancouver Island coming your way!

2. “Maybe all the people losing their hair stayed home.” This was said as an observation of the fact that everyone at the reunion, pretty much, still had amazing hair. I’d put our grad class (with significant others included) against any other in a purely superficial, old fashioned lookin’ good contest any day of the week.

3. The unique stories and conversations made things perpetually interesting. Now, I go to a lot of networking events around Vancouver, and it’s never fun having to give the same canned answer over and over and over. The Class of ’99 Reunion had no such repetition and people generally avoided long-winded diatribes about material things, sexual conquests or their complicated route to and from work. Thanks for the freshness, y’all.

It wouldn't be a GP Vanier Formal without baseball caps

It wouldn't be a GP Vanier Formal without baseball caps

4. Confederate Flags. I know. This is a weird one. But anyone who went to my high school will tell you that, well, confederate flags – on shirts as well as immense pickup trucks – were a badge of Redneck honour at GP Vanier Secondary School. Just as there was chewing tobacco spit in the drinking fountain or and a need to be sure the emergency break was engaged so your car didn’t get pushed in the ditch surrounding the student parking lot, there were pictorial allusions to the South rising again. Fortunately enough, it seemed that only one attendee – a kindhearted and very friendly young iron worker -  still does not fully grasp the contentious power of said symbolic decoration, but, hey, neither did the Duke Boys, right?!

5. Unpretentiousness. What better place than a high school reunion to talk about how great you’ve become? During my navigation of the reunion, however, I found no such pretentions creating one-sided conversations amongst graduates. And there were some very cool people doing very cool things. But, man, we’re from Courtenay – no point taking ourselves too seriously.

So, do you have a high school or university reunion coming up in the weeks, months or years ahead? Are you, like many of the people at my reunion were, anxious or nervous about the event? Well, here are five simple tips on how to note just survive, but thrive at your reunion:

1. Be Yourself. “If you’ve gotta think about being cool, you ain’t cool.” Well said, Johnny Depp and Keith Richards – arguably a couple of very cool characters. If you are a little trepidatious about being yourself, well, maybe be a pirate…

2. If you want to be someone else, have an Amazing Story. To quote a young George Costanza, “it’s not a lie if you believe it.” Too concerned about being cool to actually be cool? Well, there’s an answer for that, too. Make stuff up! Just know that if you want to hit the reunion with tales of exotic foreign intrigue, business cards that say “Existential Detective” or a story of how you’re Charlize Theron’s body-double, make sure that you’ve got enough yarn in your pocket to spin for awhile. Ideally, your story should be able to survive three probing follow-up questions before it crumbles apart. Consider creating some online content (blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) before arriving, too – you know, just to create a bit of a buzz.

3. Bring a Well-Prepared Wingperson. A little nervous about facing former foes? Well, find an outgoing, superfun and risk-taking friend to boost your personal brand might be a good idea. Get creative, too. Maybe your friend “Tom” from “Ninja School” is also a Mathematician or a Doctor. And you can always flip it around, too. Have a friend show up completely unattached to you. And then get said friend to act like an obnoxious creep. And then be sure that you – The Reunion Hero – are the one who defuses a potentially dangerous situation. There are 1001 recipes for characters and scenarios, people. Go with what works for you.

4. Ask Good Questions. As the age-old piece of relationship-building advice goes: “be more interested than interesting.” Would you rather know what someone does for work or learn about what they do for fun, their search for inner peace and/or strategy for global domination? Interesting questions are easy to find, because, really, how many times can you ask “hey, remember that time we got so wasted?” at a reunion.

5. Unpretentiousness. “You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else.” Well, Tyler Durden might use pure hyperbole, but you get the idea. I think you’re special, don’t worry; but the person you’re talking to…they’re more special.

And so the Chronicles of the GP Vanier Class of ’99 Reunion conludeth. Thanks again to the organizing team and all the supercool people who made the evening as memorable as that kick-ass party at The Lake that time. I wish anyone attending their high school reunion – or a reunion of any kind – the best of luck and hope that happiness weaves its way into your experience. If you remember one thing from what happened about, remember to have fun with it. We did!

- JCH

Libraries, Literacy, and Community

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Literacy, both reading-and-writing and community literacy, are critical components of a strong community.

Informed discussion, enlightened imagination, and literal comprehension are the pillars of an active and engaged people. They enable organization, planning, and debate; all of which are critical to a healthy and functioning society.

Public Domain - Vancouver Public Library 04

CC publicdomainarts on flickr

It is difficult to overstate the importance of libraries and literacy.

While it is true that communication tools have led to improved access to information, the effectiveness of that access in terms of promoting local community development and community literacy is greatly diminished by the quest for monetization and the decentralized and isolated nature in which we receive it.

One of the great defining aspects of libraries, beyond providing access to a wealth of information, is that they are communal in nature. Scan the offerings at your local library and you will find activities, courses, support, services, and events that help build strong communities at a grassroots level.

Helping parents raise literate and informed children, helping students and teachers with research and access to information, and opening our eyes to publications from around the globe that provide insight into every aspect of our lives. All provided not for profit, but for our collective good.

Libraries serve as a critical grounding during a time where we are all-to-easily distracted by links of the day, explosions on television, and celebrity gossip publications.

They reveal and support the best in us all. The loss of any of these services would be detrimental to our communities, yet at the moment we find that loss a very real possibility.

BC provincial public libraries have not yet received their 2009 annual operating grants from the provincial government, nor have they been told how much money they will be receiving – both of which usually happen earlier in the fiscal year. There have been strong indications that the Province has decided to stop funding libraries and that this funding may be cut from the current and subsequent budgets.

http://www.stopbclibrarycuts.ca/public.htm

With articles in community publications across the province, the reaction to this holdback by media points to the importance of libraries to our communities.

Hopefully that coverage leads to informed debate and action that results in a long-term plan to support libraries and the communities of British Columbia.

It’s our chance to support those that support us, to bring positivity to a political debate that is all-too-often debased with uninformed comment, and to steer our representatives towards a very real way they can support the communities from whence they came.

You can find out more about what funding means to British Columbia’s libraries, and how you can become engaged through the British Columbia Library Association. If you’re interested they have an official response and list of other resources as well.

Mental Health and Community

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It’s an ongoing struggle trying to figure out how we, as a community, can take care of our most vulnerable citizens. For a while, those with disorders and addictions were sheltered in among their relatives. Then we institutionalized it all and put the onus on governments. Nowadays, neither the institutions nor, often people’s relatives, seem to be capable of taking care of folks.

That has left a gap, which has spawned the Downtown Eastside and all its sad consequences.

One of the best ways of helping people to become more healthy is to connect them to healthy role models, neighbours, services, and community. Despite NIMBY protests that are sure to arise, its important to ensure folks who need help are integrated into healthy communities. That’s right Kerrisdale and Dunbar.

Only once we start accepting our most vulnerable (and often most difficult to handle) neighbours back into our community can we really build a place that’s a real model on “diversity”.

Vancouver drivers – honk if you want to build community!

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Vancouver’s drivers are an agreeable and, on the whole, competent lot. After years dodging cars on Toronto’s streets, jay walking in Vancouver is a treat, free from peril and ill will. Where else can you gingerly venture out onto a big downtown street like Robson or Denman and discover that not just cars, but even cabs immeditately slow to a halt and wave you merrily across? If I tried a stunt like that in Munich, Paris let alone Montreal or Ottawa, I’d have been road kill long ago. Experiences such as these are unique to a big city like Vancouver and to me they are a positive indicator that a convivial, community oriented spirit is alive and well in this fair city.

Nonetheless, just like any metropolis, our motorists are plagued by high levels of incompetence, recklessness and needlessly uncouth behaviour. Most of this is rooted in road rage. However sorely tempted, I will avoid raging about the incompetent, erratic and downright scary drivers at the wheels of luxury vehicles all over Vancouver and the threat they pose to the safety of our urban community. As Gumboot contributor, John Horn, aptly points out, when these nifty cars become stranded in two inches of snow, an opportunity for creating community emerges and fellow citizens can throw their weight behind fancy bumpers, building community in the process. But, I digress –

After travelling in Peru for the past three weeks, I have come upon a simple solution, to chipping away at road rage and resurrecting community on the road. Let’s use the car horn differently.

Aside from weddings, North Americans only resort to the horn in moments of emotionally-driven need – honking to express anger, impatience or fear. Peruvian drivers use their horns liberally and cheerfully and so they become the harmonious language of the street. Traffic rules, traffic lights and traffic headaches are strangely absent while honking creates a healthy atmosphere of give and take to each intersection.

Vancouver’s eight lane intersections are replete with complicated traffic light systems where motorists “get the rage”. A similar intersection in Lima has a simple turning circle and that’s it. Peruvian drivers enter at will, give a merry honk, receive a merry honk in response from those in the circle and potential fender benders are avoided. Cab drivers even individualize their horns so that some taxis emit a jolly, three-note hooting while others give a little whistle. Annoying? Not really. The sound just becomes part of the music of the street and the aural evidence of a community of drivers which knows how to get along.

Should Vancouver scrap its traffic lights and institute a honking free for all in the name of reducing road rage and building community? No. This would backfire. But still, can’t we at least take a leaf out of Peru’s book? In doing so, I believe we could build better on-road communties. How about giving a little “beep, beep” when someone is a slow poke, or a cyclist doesn’t see you, rather than resorting to a sketchy, right lane passing manoeuvre, or to a full-on horn lean? I for one am in the market for a car horn that gets my message across via the tune of a merry jig – that Lima taxi man has one, why shouldn’t I?