Beating recently vacated seats

On a similar note to mafangongren’s, Some forumosans will now beat their seats in Voice and other pubs to ensure tht they don not sit in a wet mess. The dark outline of buttocks and thighs on beige pants… while abit humorous is still not very appealing.

Chou

[quote=“mofangongren”]I hate to think of it, but I suppose the Taiwanese make some sense on this one. Say somebody who’s had way too much gaolicai lays a dozen cabbage farts into the upholstery and then stands up. The next person who plomps down onto the seat may get a rude surprise.

That said, my guess it’s really an attempt to make sure that they’re not about to sit down into something sticky or otherwise nasty.[/quote]

No upholstery on the MRT… Why does nobody believe me when I say that all good Taiwanese know that you can get hemmorhoids from a hot subway seat???

Also… received this in the mail today. It’s on topic. Are partially Chinese postings accepted here?

Damn, wasn’t my wife was it?

Her lack of flatulant inhibitions are mind boggling. She simply would not believe me when I told her I had in all my years never once heard my mother fart.
:laughing:

HG

[quote=“Mucha Man”]Miss Bimmel wrote:

Well, contrary to what Magnolia wrote it is not a matter of relaxation.
[/quote]
That’s why the lyrics say: “Relax! DON’T DO IT! When you wanna cum!” :unamused:

And I don’t think they got the idea from a ancient Chinese text! Next you’ll be saying you read about your prostate gland in a leaftlet at the clinic! :wink:

If you don’t know the song, Mucha Man, apologies for the rolling eyes. Can you imagine a generation of people walking around in t-shirts with “CLENCH!” emblazoned across them! In some parallel universe, I’m sure…

Hi,

Personal habits in other cultures, which are unusual to me, are of some interest.

I’ve noticed what seems to be an unusual personal habit among many Taiwanese. Many of them seem to be quite concerned with the physical temperature of the seat on which they might sit. For example, when a person begins to choose a seat on the MRT, he or she might feel the seat, and if it is still hot from the last person who sat there, they will move to a new seat. Or they will hover above it and fan the seat until it cools. This wasn’t a “survey of one.” I have noticed this on 5 or more occasions.

Does anyone have any idea what’s going on here?

Thanks,

Seeker4

Cooties.

Warm cooties… :laughing:

There’s another thread on this somewhere where the question is answered. I believe it had something to do with avoiding chi stains.

A doctor friend told me that beating seats is to get rid of the bacteria that cause genital warts.

But then they’ll have the germs on their hands, instead of on the back of their pants.
Frankly, the whole thing just seems to disgusting to contemplate.

After my original post, I had an epiphany…If I want to know what a Taiwanese person thinks…ask one!

So I did.

The answer was similar to the cooties and gential warts answers, but not exactly. Basically, the person said that people believe that some germs, such as the kind that cause skin rashes, etc., will be left behind by someone else. But that still seems disjointed and unrelated to temperature. And if someone has a skin rash on his butt, how do the germs get out of his pants onto the seat?

Oh well, logic and belief have never had a close relationship. Interesting cultural difference anyway.

Seeker4

Beating seats may come from the Japanese campaign in the early 1900’s to bring hygene to Taiwan and stem the spread of deadly diseases that were killing the Japanese officials and soldiers. The Japanese colonial government launched the campaign to “Beat and Clean”. Beating blankets was supposed to get rid of mites and fleas that could carry disease. The slogan to “Beat and Clean” turned into “pabiah”, a common expression to get busy and go…