Honking

The honk, in American Samoa, does not mean the same thing as the honk in the States. Here, when someone honks it can mean (i) I'll wait for you to merge into traffic, (ii) thank you for letting me merge into traffic, (iii) I recognize you and am acknowledging that fact in a friendly way, (iv) I see you on your bicycle and do not intend to run you over, (v) thank you in general, (vi) you're welcome in general, (vii) other friendly acknowledgments/greetings. I'm explaining this because it can be confusing at first. However, there is a special technique for doing the Samoan honk of kindness and friendship -- as I call it. It is a light tap, a quick and soft beep beep or sometimes just one quick beep. If done properly it actually does sound friendly. For some reason I can't do it. When I try, it comes out as more of an angry blare no matter how lightly and quickly I tap. I think I've upset a few people I was actually trying to thank. I'll have to spend some time alone in the garage practicing before I try again. In the meantime, people are also into giving the wave to say thank you to fellow drivers. I've already got that one down.