Collaborationist.
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#NO SUCKING
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Nope. They recinded it a few years back…maybe a decade ago? It was only ever applied to MRT stations anyways. Department stores, etc never adopted that rule. Eventually the MRT stations quit the rule. Now you can stand or walk where you please. If someone is in your way, just give them a polite “excuse me” and you can move on past if there is space to move over.
You call it drivel, others call it having a mature discussion.
why do you think it matters or not whether its official? thats not how things work here. do you know that its also officially illegal to ride bikes on the pavement but all the bike paths are actually on the pavement? whats official and whats not here is as useful as toilet paper. what really matters is what is practiced, and using the left side of the escalator as an overtaking lane here is 100% a thing.
Obviously its not a 100% thing or you wouldnt be having a problem. Not everyone decides to do it. If you run into those people and you want to pass, just ask. It is their right to stand there just as much as it is your right to try and pass. So yeah…
Whatever dude.
My point was that you are trying to put a square peg (Taiwan) into a round hole (western way of thinking). It just doesnt work and never will. You can try to chip away at the square peg, but that will take generations. Or you can slide that square peg into its square hole very easily and go with the flow. Its the only way to find peace and relax here.
It’s certainly not abided by in the South (apart form Kaohsiung and their KMRT Nazis). I mentioned to a friend once that, while allowing those in a rush to get to the train/HSR/MRT/等等 to get there faster, taking the stairs is almost always faster anyways. Also, and most importantly, are such machines meant to have 90% or more of the weight burden on the right hand side? Wouldn’t this seem an unsound practice for mechanical devices? Pure speculation, but I’ve managed to convince a couple people of my logic. However, the counterargument could be that, by using both sides, overall weight and stress are increased. It would be hazardous if everyone weighed as much as me (according to the average weight/person limits posted in most elevators, I’m worth almost two locals in kg).
I heard that is exactly why they stopped requesting people stand to the right. Makes sense to me.
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Unless, of course, they design the escalators to withstand a greater load on the right side.
One of us really ought to Google it! Ha ha!
So I did. According to an article in the failing New York Times (fake news), they suggest no walking on escalators at all and no favoring either side (not sure if links allowed here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/us/escalators-standing-or-walking.html
).
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mate, please stop being irritating. where i come from there are no subways, as i said this is not my ‘western’ rule. its taiwans rule, which i have picked up on after coming here.
its the exact same point as i made before, people also park in road, infront of crossings even. regardless of what a complete pain in the ass this causes for others. its selfish, sure its part of the culture, i’m not saying it isn’t. i’m saying it is, its a very bad part of the culture. look i don’t walk around raging when people get in my way but i also don’t see why i need to be all zen about it. its annoying, worth complaining about and get this…it also pisses off Taiwanese people. so get off your high horse.
Um, but its not a rule.
This is going in a circle.
I don’t own a horse.
Just trying to help you understand that…
- It isnt a rule
- Dont let it bother you, its not worth the stress
- If it really does bother you, ask them to move
Life is short. Enjoy it.
Amen. And for the record, I’m personally “blob-shaped” and still tend to fit into any hole without many issues (ok, that sounds off). By that I mean I haven’t had many clashes of culture or status quo for a while, but it does take most people a few years (or more). Then the 差不多 vs 不要這樣 experiences are taken more in stride, and ways to ease into society become easier.
I personally could not imagine how difficult it could be for a Muslim female to function in Western society (and I’m no liberal), so to have an easy life in TW is not a big deal for me. Let’s enjoy our lives and hope they are longer rather than shorter 
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Well said.
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ok suit yourself, go wait on the left side of the escalator and enjoy your non rule… good day to you.
哈哈， Making no assumptions as to the intent of your message, standing on the left side will certainly elicit a response (from cold gaze to a bump to a “借過”) . I’ve been guilty of the shuffling of feet, obvious looking around, and coughing when I had one minute to catch a train and two businessmen were leisurely chatting on an otherwise completely empty escalator. I had to run to get into my car at 高雄左營 station, by still waiting around four minutes for the doors to close and the HSR to leave. Those two dudes knew the train would leave after the posted time, I didn’t. So, I can appreciate the urgency of time for some people and personalities (like me). Best to be the square peg sometimes 
I’m up and down, left and right on this whole escalator issue.
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Guys there is are videos and announcement on the net saying stand on the right, grab handle tight, etc. Is that obsolete?
The rule about standing on the right was rescinded a few years back, but most people still follow it (myself included), being the well-trained serfs that they are. When I run into somebody standing on the left, it’s usually a tourist.
Escalator etiquette is a typical example of Individual vs. the System.
How much are individuals willing to give up on some of their personal interests in order to benefit the overall smoothness of the system. How much education/persuasion/punishment is needed to make sure that individuals are not blocking the flows of the system. One person on the left side of an elevator can hold up dozens of other people behind him thus stopping the flow, if even briefly. Like a car driver who drives to the middle of an intersection and stops there because cars are in front of him. Then the lights turn red, he’s stuck there, and he blocks the traffic that comes from left or right. There are thousands of examples like that in a densely populated city. Laws and law enforcement, education and people who think about what impact their individual actions have on the system go a long way in making sure that a system/a society/a modern city can function efficiently and smoothly and thus benefit most of the individuals within, even those who have given up some of their personal interests.
I’d say it all starts with education.
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