8-2-09: Transportation; Have we lost something in the States?

I find that by naming some of these blogs I write with catchy phrases, that people tend to read more of them, hence the name of today’s blog. I wanted to give you, mister/miss reader, an idea of how Vietnamese transportation is through my eyes. When I first arrived here in Vietnam, I was surprised to hear loud honking coming from every direction. It reminded me of the rude taxi drivers from New York, loudly blasting their horns for no apparent reason but to annoy the driver in front of them. Because God knows that honking in New York rarely ever makes traffic move faster. In Vietnam, though, honking is more of an art. Since there are basically no traffic rules, traffic lights, or even stop signs, honking is used in place of the lack of any traffic laws. For instance, I rented a moped (a Chinese made Honda) to get around Hue, Vietnam for the week. I quickly found out that, although riding these little machines were easy, riding around town without traffic lights proved to be different. In the States we have computerized traffic lights that organize when we go, where we go, and how many of us go. In Vietnam, it is more of a free-flowing, ant like, way of moving. You basically never stop in the streets, and left turns are made from the left hand side. This is awkward because you have incoming traffic coming your way as you make the left turn from the left side (remember Vietnamese drive on the right side of the road like us).

Cars and buses move along the roads like elephants amongst the ants that are the moped drivers. Slow moving and weaving in and out of the mopeds, the bigger vehicles must be driven with the utmost care for human life. This is because one missed honk, or one long turn, can kill or injure numerous people. Although the driving in Vietnam proves to be much more primitive than us in the States, it seems that the drivers here have more care for their fellow people. In Los Angeles we have people drunk driving, speeding, and road rage. There is almost no common human decency amongst us when we drive in the States; like human life isn’t as fragile as glass. In Vietnam, it seems like the people understand this. No one wants to get hurt, and no one wants to inflict pain on anyone else.

I even experienced my first crash here the other day. Two male drivers (on mopeds) collided with one another while making that dreaded left turn. Almost immediately, tens of people ran to their assistance. In our country, people drive by, see if the accident isn’t too severe, then drive on. With our mighty economic, technological, and intellectual growth, it seems as though we’ve grown to be robotic. Our emotions are almost non-existence when in the public. People are afraid to help one another, afraid to discipline their kids, too embarrassed to show compassion to a lover in public. How have we come to this? How have we gone to being a hard-working country chasing the American dream, to a country full of people trying to materialistically keep up with one another? This chase of materialism has even played a huge role in our countries financial crisis. Is it wrong to live within our means? I guess this is what I was trying to get to with this blog. Driving in Vietnam is an extension of the common care for human life that the people have for one another, something that we seemed to lose at times…

-Live from Vietnam, Sonny