Someone parked my scooter a block away without telling me

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
#1

So,

One of my neighbours decides that the space in front of our communal building belongs to him and wheels my scooter a block away where he leaves it.

This is after me parking there for over a year.

And, without telling me, so I thought it was stolen.

The security “guards” at the front of our complex think this was only natural since they “Don’t know how it is in [my] country, but we Taiwanese think that the space in front of our house also belongs to us,” and that “I seldom drive, so the scooter just sits there”.

Gak!

#2

Well there you go. You live there, so the space obviously belongs to you. See what they say to that.

#3

I actually tried the “We-men foreigners living in Taiwan like it when our personal property is respected by you-men Taiwanese.”

Natually, this was met with much hilarity. And the “guards” that I pay a fee to each month, suggested in none too respectful tones, that if I didn’t like it, I should “go sue him”.

To which I replied, “forget you”.

#4

:bravo:

#5

chain your bike to his car. or just chain his car to his car

(tip: connect a heavy duty chain from one rear wheel hub across the diff, wrap twice around the drive shaft, and chain to the chassis anywhere in front of the diff. use strong padlock to connect. can also improvise with tying a length of stout steel cable. leave enough slack in the system so that the car builds up enough momentum before drawing the chain tight and snapping the drive shaft or the diff. do this to the front wheel if a front wheel dive car. )

#6

I sense that reddoll’s next thread is going to be in Cars & Motorcycles asking where he can get slashed tires and seat covers replaced.

Are you really sure it was a good idea to make this minor issue a racial problem? Taiwanese vs. Foreigners in a match of sneakiness, vandalism and legal manoevering. Don’t take it the wrong way, but my money is on your neighbors winning this one. Get ready for your life to made even more miserable than it already is by the combined forces of your freshly insulted neighbors with the assistance and tacit approval of your own security guards.

#7

Hey we are in Taiwan. One block is really too far to walk.

#8

[color=red]TAIWAN HATERS![/color]

#9

You may be jumping to conclusions: how do you know he didn’t leave the scooter alone and in fact move the blocks? Hmm?

Didn’t think of that, did you? :loco:

OK, I’d be miffed, but think about it: he has to move that thing a whole block each time you park there. Get a cheap, second-hand, BIG scooter, like a Majesty, and keep it parked out front. Make sure you can drive it a block at least, though. :wink:

#10

Make the ‘security guard’ and active participant in seeing that this problem never happens again.

I have no idea what that might mean…but it was fun to post it.

#11

I’ve been opening a lot of doors recently by asking calmly to speak to someone’s boss/supervisor. Ask the guard for his boss’s number and for the guard’s name and work number. Do it calmly. Let him know that you consider these lapses in security very dangerous for the community/building.

If he doesn’t back down and protect your property as he should, go to his boss and explain the situation calmly. Let them know you expect your property to be protected as that is what you are paying for each month.

Good luck!

#12

much better than my suggestion. hey, if you followed everything i told you to do, you’d all be dead by now for sure. never listen to me, please.

gotta get onside of the security gang, but it’s still a gang and you’ll always be the outsider. some way of imposing pressure from above might work, but you’re still screwed if you find out the security boss is also in on the fun. perhaps then you should take up the ssue by sueing the security guards for ‘dereliction of duty’. or take it up with TVBS if they’re ‘taiwanese’ types, or with FTV if they’re ‘chinese’ types. a little bit of publicity goes a long way to losing face here, and that is just the kind of shit TV that makes those petty news departments salivate…

#13

[color=blue]My advice is to chat with the doormen, stop by every day, and say hi when you are entering or leaving. Show them that you have more class than the others who have been giving you troubles. If you show the door guards a little bit of respect by noticing that they exist as people in the world, then they will take your side of the argument. I have recently had an argument with my neighbors down in the parking garage and the guards/managers were just trying to keep the peace. The crazy rabid mother was fighting me for the little empty space next to my car space. She wanted to park her scooter there instead of next to her car. It was really a silly argument and the guards could see that. But they had to make peace. “blessed are the peacemakers” :slight_smile:[/color]

#14

I bought my doorman the shittiest read cheapest six pack of beer I could find. He was my buddy afterwards, called me by name, asking to treat me to noodles, telling me I have mail. If he was a girl, probably would have offered me the holiest of holies. But I digress.

Diplomacy can work. Turn him to the dark side. Turn him against your rat bastard neighbour. Pretty soon, he’ll be your guard for your bike, and MA the other guy for coming within ten feet of you vehicle.

#15

Gotta think outside the box, folks.

Coat the entire bike in axle grease or honey, and then they won’t want to touch it to move it. Problem solved. :sunglasses:

#16

[quote=“Jack Burton”]I bought my doorman the shittiest read cheapest six pack of beer I could find. He was my buddy afterwards, called me by name, asking to treat me to noodles, telling me I have mail. If he was a girl, probably would have offered me the holiest of holies. But I digress.

Diplomacy can work. Turn him to the dark side. Turn him against your rat bastard neighbour. Pretty soon, he’ll be your guard for your bike, and MA the other guy for coming within ten feet of you vehicle.[/quote]

Agree completely. Best advice I got upon moving to my first apartment was to make the rounds at CNY with a bunch of cakes. I spent a little TWD for each neighbor but got the sense afterwards that among all of them I was nowhere near the bottom of any of their shitlists.

Now, what you need to do is never mention your scooter or the car ever again. 1) Forget completely about the scooter as far as the guards or your other neighbors are concerned for the next 6 months. 2) Become best friends with the guards. 3) Figure out which way the security cameras all face. 4) When the time is right periodically spill a bit of milk into the space around the air ducts, pull back the seals where the window retracts into the door and squirt some milk in there too.

While everybody eventually figures out the ol’ fish-behind-the-hubcaps trick, milk is all the more insidious because the smell is so pervasive and sickening and it’s often not immediately identifiable by non-milk-drinking Taiwanese.

– Mofanlinju

#17

[quote=“mofangongren”][quote=“Jack Burton”]I bought my doorman the shittiest read cheapest six pack of beer I could find. He was my buddy afterwards, called me by name, asking to treat me to noodles, telling me I have mail. If he was a girl, probably would have offered me the holiest of holies. But I digress.

Diplomacy can work. Turn him to the dark side. Turn him against your rat bastard neighbour. Pretty soon, he’ll be your guard for your bike, and MA the other guy for coming within ten feet of you vehicle.[/quote]

Agree completely. Best advice I got upon moving to my first apartment was to make the rounds at CNY with a bunch of cakes. I spent a little TWD for each neighbor but got the sense afterwards that among all of them I was nowhere near the bottom of any of their shitlists.

Now, what you need to do is never mention your scooter or the car ever again. 1) Forget completely about the scooter as far as the guards or your other neighbors are concerned for the next 6 months. 2) Become best friends with the guards. 3) Figure out which way the security cameras all face. 4) When the time is right periodically spill a bit of milk into the space around the air ducts, pull back the seals where the window retracts into the door and squirt some milk in there too.

While everybody eventually figures out the ol’ fish-behind-the-hubcaps trick, milk is all the more insidious because the smell is so pervasive and sickening and it’s often not immediately identifiable by non-milk-drinking Taiwanese.

– Mofanlinju[/quote]

Yeah…if you’re BBQ’ing and you’ve got tha last piece that no-one wants…the extra piece of cake…works wonders.

Oh…I mean for doorman/person…f…the neighbors

#18

wicked, evil even. sounds like fun.

we used to push a prawn down the back of the seat so it wedged between the back rest and the cushion. good in a sydney summer. only to friends cars tho.

also fun was one guy keeping a box of eggs in the trunk all summer, for use as stink bombs somewhere or other. particularly funny was the time he forgot about them, and broke many when he put a box of shopping on top of them, weeks later.

#19

[quote=“redwagon”]I sense that reddoll’s next thread is going to be in Cars & Motorcycles asking where he can get slashed tires and seat covers replaced.

Are you really sure it was a good idea to make this minor issue a racial problem? Taiwanese vs. Foreigners in a match of sneakiness, vandalism and legal manoevering. Don’t take it the wrong way, but my money is on your neighbors winning this one. Get ready for your life to made even more miserable than it already is by the combined forces of your freshly insulted neighbors with the assistance and tacit approval of your own security guards.[/quote]

Not at all my intention. It was the guards who made it into a “wo-men” vs. “ni-men” issue. So, I merely responded in the same language. I’m sure it had no effect, and was taken at face value about what “we Westerners” actually appreciate.

I’m not going to escalate this, and there is a security camera trained on the guy’s apartment and car, so while revenge seems like a fun idea, I’d be the loser, for sure.

It is simply another example of behaviour that just boggles my mind. Petty, sneaky behaviour condoned by virtue of the fact that I don’t share the guards/neighbour’s race.

#20

[quote=“reddoll”][quote=“redwagon”]I sense that reddoll’s next thread is going to be in Cars & Motorcycles asking where he can get slashed tires and seat covers replaced.

Are you really sure it was a good idea to make this minor issue a racial problem? Taiwanese vs. Foreigners in a match of sneakiness, vandalism and legal manoevering. Don’t take it the wrong way, but my money is on your neighbors winning this one. Get ready for your life to made even more miserable than it already is by the combined forces of your freshly insulted neighbors with the assistance and tacit approval of your own security guards.[/quote]

Not at all my intention. It was the guards who made it into a “wo-men” vs. “ni-men” issue. So, I merely responded in the same language. I’m sure it had no effect, and was taken at face value about what “we Westerners” actually appreciate.

I’m not going to escalate this, and there is a security camera trained on the guy’s apartment and car, so while revenge seems like a fun idea, I’d be the loser, for sure.

It is simply another example of behaviour that just boggles my mind. Petty, sneaky behaviour condoned by virtue of the fact that I don’t share the guards/neighbour’s race.[/quote]

Reddoll, I really recommend turning the tables on him. Paint the guard into a corner. If you give him something like beer (and do so apparently genuinely), then he’ll be too embarassed to take sides against you. Hey, when in Rome, my friend… I think you’ll find the results surprising. The psychology (and manipulating it) is more simple than you think. Homogeneity in that society makes things even more predictable.