Superiors pissed on him, so now he’s taking it out on someone else
He has nothing better to do
Kicking old women is fun
0voters
It’s funny in the sense that it’s unusual.
I’ve been in Cin Shuei since last December, and go to the market daily. The entrance to my building opens onto a small lane, I turn left out of the lane onto the street where all the vendors set up. Some are actual stores, others park their carts in front of the stores, and others still set up in the middle of the street, effectively turning it into two very tiny lanes with just enough room for two people to pass.
I came out this morning to find my lane lined with vendors. WTF? Thinks I. I turn left out of the lane onto the street…empty! No vendors. The stores are there. The vendors who set up in front of the stores have pulled their carts so far in that they’re almost inside the stores themselves, and the vendors who set up in the middle of the street are nowhere to be seen because they’re all up the lanes.
Not knowing what to make of this, I walk up the street looking for the corn vendor. I finally find her pulled way in to one of the stores. I buy my corn and continue up the street. Ahead there’s an old man, one of the middle-of-the-street guys, who can’t find a place to set up his cart, so he’s pulling it up the street. Suddenly, a cop on a scooter passes me. He approaches the old guy, and starts gesturing with his hands while laying in with a litany of angry Chinese. A little further up the street is an old woman hauling her cart. The cop drives up to her. Same thing, only this time he kicks the old woman’s cart. The cop then scoots on up the street and out of sight.
When I get to the end of the street, I see the cop. He turned around and is on his way back. What am I to make of this?
i know it sounds impossible, but they did the same up here a few months back too, and though it’s hard to believe, chung chen road is still almost free of cars/stalls etc. blocking the road.
ever been to a night market in taipei when the cops walk through - it’s a mad dash to pull your cart somewhere safe before you get fined, and pity the fool who gets in the way.
He didn’t really kick the old women though - he kicked the cart. I was thinking WTF until I read all of your post. While not excusable, it’s not as bad as you make out.
You shouldn’t vote without reading the post. In any event, I’m not trying to make it out to be anything. Besides, maybe kicking old women is fun.
That said, a couple hours later I went out for a bike ride and thought I’d check out the happenings in the market. Most of the vendors had gone. It was 11am, the market usually wraps up around 2pm. The cop was still there – two hours later! Wow, I’ve never heard of such dedication from a Taiwanese law enforcement officer.
I want to change my vote, now I think somebody didn’t pay their hong bao.
Special project. Someone important couldn’t get his Benz through that street and used his connections to get something done about it. Too bad they don’t enforce all of the laws this way, all of the time.
Of course a new week will bring a new special project, and this one will be forgotten like all the others before it.
As to the kicking of the cart stuff, everyone here knows that laws and their enforcement are negotiable. If the cop asks the vendors nicely he’ll be there all day explaining why and dishing out the platitudes. A quick flash of temper lets everyone know this time there is no negotiation and they actually have to obey the law. The horror.
It’s all theater. The police are putting on a show of their power giving the vendors a whiff of what is possible. The vendors show respect for that power buy moving their stalls into your lane (which is surely as illegal as around the courner) and under the eves of stores which they are probably paying rent to for protection. They’ll all return 15 minutes after the police have gone. Nothing will have changed. The cops could quite possibly be getting a pay-off. The idea then is not to close you down, otherwise you won’t have the money to pay, just disrupt your business and make life as unpleasant for you as possible so you’ll be prepared to cough up in the future. If they were wearing all black, had close cropped hair, and tatts over half their body, you’d call it a protection racket. Here, it’s just called policing.
They might be rude those cops (most seem to be) but law is in place and no excused for streetvendors who do not pay their taxes.
For sure , there is offer and demand, but I guess that most of Taiwanese would appreciate that street vendors pay taxes as every regular worker.
And what is wrong with pushing a cart to make a clear statement (too others)
The thing is, it was an old lady and not a 120 kg block of a guy, so this makes us more feeling pitty no>
Get your acts together. law has to rule. for everyone, even here…
So? I never saw two cops on a motorcycle
Those guys are the ones who have to stamp those small papers in the letter boxes proven they “secure” a certain area no?
those cops are the same who wait for you ,to give you a ticket ,after you turn right when trespassing a red light .
Those are the same who do “busniness” themselves on night markets.
Those are the ones who are more corrupt than the 2 guys together in a car.
Those are the ones who look more fat than the ones in a car.
…they know the drill… and use and abuse their power when needed.
So? I never saw two cops on a motorcycle
Those guys are the ones who have to stamp those small papers in the letter boxes proven they “secure” a certain area no?
those cops are the same who wait for you ,to give you a ticket ,after you turn right when trespassing a red light .
Those are the same who do “busniness” themselves on night markets.
Those are the ones who are more corrupt than the 2 guys together in a car.
Those are the ones who look more fat than the ones in a car.
…they know the drill… and use and abuse their power when needed.[/quote]
This post looks a lot better than your last. I’m glad you posted it. When you alluded to payment of taxes and rule of law as reasons for the sporadic and inconsistent enforcement campaign against street vendors, I was going to say you don’t have a clue how things actually work here.
Bullshit. I’ve spent decades watching my country twist itself like a pretzel to cater to ethnic minorities. Trying to stand for everthing, it now stands for nothing.
As for what I wrote, take it at face value. The rule of law is a western, or to be more specific, English, concept.
