In Wonderland mood but still wanting to complain about Taiwan

Music does change things around. Been in a good mood all day long, despite all the crap I've encountered out on the street. Sure, I'll complain but I am still in a good mood (unlike other days when I complain and in a bad mood).

I'm sure that a lot of foreigners in Taiwan have noticed this. If not all, at least the people I know. Taiwanese are simply not known for their walking etiquette. In other words, they seriously don't know how to walk normally (or drive for that matter). The sidewalks or under-roof paths are as narrow as they can be, thanks to all the parked scooters and illegal street vendors (they seriously should ban them forever, I don't care if they are a unique sight of the city or not. Street vendors in Taiwan are extremely irritating, do not pay taxes but take advantage of public space paid by whom?). When people walk in pair, they tend to occupy the spaces for both directions, never paying attention to other pedestrians. If I am walking towards a pair, which means that they can perfectly see me, they would not make any effort to let me pass through. I have never encountered a huge majority of inconsiderate and handicapped pedestrians elsewhere. Normally in other cities, one of the people would go behind his/her friend to allow the person walking towards them pass through first, before joining up the walking compagnon again. Not in Taiwan. Apparently people have this theory that more people walking together means the right to occupy more space. Even when I say things equivalent to "Excuse me" or "Pardon me" in Chinese (OK, even if I say "I am sorry, please let me through" in Chinese, it still doesn't work for most people), people seem to pretend that the words are not directed at them. I don't know why that is.

And then there's the bus. For some odd reasons, Taiwanese buses can have several models. Some are quite modern and spacious, with smart sitting plan. But some are simply awful, sitting plan-wise. And then, standees always have the need to be in front of the bus, never wanting to move to the back. Are they afraid that they can't get off the bus if they are at the end? (one gets off the bus through the front door most of the time here). Well, I never missed a stop and I usually perfer sitting at the back, even when the bus is completely jammed. Since pronouncing polite words like "Pardon me" doesn't really work in Taiwan, I do what big city people do the best - push! It's done everywhere! From NYC to Tokyo, people push each other simply because there are too many of them! And a little of pushing does no harm, it gets the job done. Perhaps Taiwanese just don't want to be pushers because that'd go against their polite image? (what polite image??? arrrrrrrrgh) No wonder the island isn't going anywhere at all...nobody's pushing!