Strange things are going on in the MRT. I live nea…
Strange things are going on in the MRT. I live near the last stop on the Xindian line. The trains come into the station on either side of the platform, and then, a few minutes later, they leave again, going back towards the city. I’ve noticed some peculiar behavior recently on my way in to work in the mornings. A train will come in from the city and stop on one side of the platform, and as soon as the doors open people sprint madly across the platform into the other waiting train, which will take them back to where they just came from. I saw so many people doing this this morning that I was tempted to ask one of them what they were thinking, but I refrained because I was sure it would be something so inane I would have no choice but to laugh in their face, and that’s not very polite. My guess is that they’re desperate for seating, as things can get pretty crowded during rush hours.
When I got into town and changed trains at Taipei Main Station, I noticed that one of the ads that line the walls there was backwards. So was the one next to it. I soon discovered that every single advertisement was backwards, and some were upside-down as well. To confirm I wasn’t just seeing things, I asked one of the staff what was going on. I was told that the business that rents the ad space hadn’t paid the bill for that month, so they turned everything around. Apparently different companies handle different stations, though, as I didn’t see any backwards ads at other stations.
In other news, Microsoft is trying to get into the car business. Because, you know, directing several tons of steel through traffic at speed is something Windows can only make safer and smoother. Until you get a “Your car has encountered a problem and needs to shut down” message on your dashboard. But hey, at least you can report the error as you wait for the ambulance.
