I am walking through the park of La Rambla del Raval on a very hot day. I see a delivery car blocking the exit of a building where a car is trying to leave. The driver of the car honks once to make the delivery car move, but without success. There is nobody in the delivery car. After a few minutes, the car honks again, this time for about 10 seconds, which feels like an eternity for me and probably for all the other people around on the other side of the street. The honk is loud and strident. It is interesting how the unusual duration of the honk manages to convey the anger of the driver trying to leave. It is a desperate sound, a sort of artificial scream that makes everyone uneasy, as evidenced by the fact that most people turn their heads to see what is happening, giving annoyed looks of disapproval.

A few meters away from that scene, and about 5 minutes later, an ambulance approaches. I can hear the siren from quite far away, but only when it is about 50 meters from where I am I realize it is coming in my direction. At some point, the ambulance can’t move further as it gets stuck in traffic. The street isn’t wide enough to allow the cars to move aside to make space for the ambulance. It just stays there, with the siren constantly reminding everyone that it can’t move further. The sound is a repetitive melody composed of three notes, a pattern perhaps not as loud as other sirens but irritating enough to make one wish it would go away. At some point, the driver decides to drive into the park in the middle of the Rambla to bypass the traffic jam, which I record with my cellphone (see the attached video). I appreciate the loud and repetitive sound of the siren finally moving away.