In a stream of consideration

A car between the mopeds - in the middle of the miracle of Hanoi and nobody is fighting.

Today I sat in a cab. Windows down, the airstream warm, a bit stuffy and humid - and the air full of noise - engines, horns, voices - and yet none of it had the sharpness you hear elsewhere.

We were the only car for miles around. And I was in the middle of it - suddenly huge, slow and bulky. All around us were mopeds, like a flowing sea of mopeds. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. I have no idea. From all sides. Not an inch was wasted.

I felt so out of place - like a big, lumbering fish in the middle of a shoal. And yet: we made progress. Everyone was making progress.

It was a strange feeling. Unreal. Almost surreal. And deeply impressive at the same time.

I was amazed. Not because it was chaotic - but because it wasn't chaotic.

Because traffic here is not governed by rules, but by consideration. Not through signs, but through eye contact, honking to draw attention to yourself.

Nobody was tailgating. No one deliberately cut anyone off. Nobody insisted on their rights. Everyone moved, looked, waited, glided past each other - as if in a silent, perfectly timed dance. No fighting, no territorial thinking. Just one: “I see you. I'll move out of the way. We're both getting somewhere.” - Getting on with each other!

Crossing the road as a pedestrian works the same way. You cross the road in confidence, everyone drives around you, you just can't change your speed. It works!

It's not the one who gets ahead who gets ahead - it's the one who gives way