Yup. His job is to observe the guy standing at the next intersection who is observing another who is observing the palace. If lil Kim should show they immediately salute and all the people are expected to show their love for him immediately.
Any asian country, really, but given the zero traffic, probably NK. In Shanghai we had these guys -usually a lady, actually- on little pedestals at every intersection. Including those with lights. Woe to the driver who offends. A stern ticking off instantly, license confiscation (takes a couple days to get back), and traffic halted for an hour while the whole arglebargle is consummated.
We all carried a few cases of shampoo, handlotion, etc in the trunk. Usually a small gift "for your colleagues" cured the whole thing in 5 minutes. The cops knew which cars belonged to which companies, and depending on their needs stopped the appropriate driver. (At the time I lived there, there were maybe 5000 private/company cars in all of Shanghai. Tens of millions of bikes, lots of trucks, etc- but few nonofficial cars, and <3000 westerners in the city).
Worked with the long haul airlines, too. A box of sample size handlotion was good for an upgrade or free booze for the entire flight. Regular fliers knew the regular crews and took care of them. I had aircrew ask directly if I had any samples that trip (yes, always...) It was even part of the 'new guy' orientation package: most popular items to carry in the car, on flights, etc.
The sad part of that picture is that Communist China looked exactly like that (with more bicycles) right into the late 80s early 90s...Then the Bush I idiots allowed them into the World Trade Organization allowing them to become the cheapest factory in the world, which in turn allowed them to start buying politicians all over the world.
North Korea?
ReplyDeleteYup. His job is to observe the guy standing at the next intersection who is observing another who is observing the palace. If lil Kim should show they immediately salute and all the people are expected to show their love for him immediately.
DeleteAny asian country, really, but given the zero traffic, probably NK. In Shanghai we had these guys -usually a lady, actually- on little pedestals at every intersection. Including those with lights. Woe to the driver who offends. A stern ticking off instantly, license confiscation (takes a couple days to get back), and traffic halted for an hour while the whole arglebargle is consummated.
ReplyDeleteWe all carried a few cases of shampoo, handlotion, etc in the trunk. Usually a small gift "for your colleagues" cured the whole thing in 5 minutes. The cops knew which cars belonged to which companies, and depending on their needs stopped the appropriate driver. (At the time I lived there, there were maybe 5000 private/company cars in all of Shanghai. Tens of millions of bikes, lots of trucks, etc- but few nonofficial cars, and <3000 westerners in the city).
Worked with the long haul airlines, too. A box of sample size handlotion was good for an upgrade or free booze for the entire flight. Regular fliers knew the regular crews and took care of them. I had aircrew ask directly if I had any samples that trip (yes, always...) It was even part of the 'new guy' orientation package: most popular items to carry in the car, on flights, etc.
That is a clean street, not like some 3rd world trashistanian city as we see in N America. Toss down your used flosser there and get a free education.
ReplyDeleteThe sad part of that picture is that Communist China looked exactly like that (with more bicycles) right into the late 80s early 90s...Then the Bush I idiots allowed them into the World Trade Organization allowing them to become the cheapest factory in the world, which in turn allowed them to start buying politicians all over the world.
ReplyDeleteAlso appears that you are to walk your bike across the street.
ReplyDeletedaddy-o