This video, taken by Velma’s mother, shows exactly what happened when Velma tried to persuade a passing freighter to honk and succeeded. At first, Velma is standing near the edge of a concrete pier, her mother filming behind her.
As she watches the giant ships pass by, she makes an enthusiastic gesture to pull on an imaginary belt, begging the ship to honk.
“Whistle! Whistle!” Cry over and over again. As the seconds pass, his voice becomes quieter and his gestures get smaller and smaller, perhaps thinking that no one on the boat will answer him.
Finally, TOOT! whistle! The ship honks.
The video shook a little while her mom jumped, but Velma’s reaction is priceless.
Her hands fly to her ears, she turns and runs off the boat, her back to the camera and her mother. The deep, coarse rumble of a ship was a far cry from “Hoot, trumpet!”
