The "Dear Beijings" section will be a forum in which I rant, bitch, or just observe (don't count on that happening too often) certain things in Chinese society, albeit a microcosmic representation here in Beijing, that either bugs me or that I find funny.
So without further ado...
Bottlenecking
I did a search on "Answers.com" for a good, concise definition of what a bottleneck is, and so far, I've got:
1) A narrow or obstructed section, as of a highway or a pipeline
2) A point or area of traffic congestion
3) A hindrance to progress or production
Now, as of this writing, there are over 18 million people in this crazy little city. Even though I've lived here before, I still consider myself to be somewhat of a new hand here in China, in that I still haven't and probably never will be accustomed to sharing so much space with so many people at once.
What does "being accustomed" to living with so many people entail? It's somewhat of a "chicken-and-egg" problem, in that the problem is created by a source, which in turn is exacerbated by the problem the source creates, ie. too many people. What this has led to is people who push, shove, cut in lines, and people who make the streets utterly unnavigable at times. I understand where this comes from; with so many people all vying for similar things, you've got to cut out your own piece of the pie (or in some cases, the crust).
But here's where the bottlenecking comes in. If you've got thirty motherfuckers pushing and shoving to get onto the subway, guess what? No one's getting on or off the damn train. The Chinese have difficulty reconciling the "First off, then in" rule, in which passengers who have reached their destination get off first, and then people who are boarding get in second. They also have difficulty giving right-of-way in traffic, no matter how few cars are on the road. Once again, this is all part of conditioning via one's environment, but I mean, come the fuck on.
There's too many people in China. That's a problem. But problems are called "problems" for a reason... there's bound to be some kind of solution, so it's not unmanagable. The difficulty in this is, people, by nature, adapt to rather than confront unfavorable situations. Again, too many people in China, but no one's willing to work together to face the issue. How else do you explain the fact that despite being in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Tokyo commutes are painless procedures where people understand the concept of fairness, priority, and a little thing called "circulating traffic" that allows people to get back home to their loved ones in a fast, if not reasonably acceptable timeframe?
Then again, maybe I am still an idealist. I've only been back here about a month. We'll see how my perception changes as time goes on.
I did a search on "Answers.com" for a good, concise definition of what a bottleneck is, and so far, I've got:1) A narrow or obstructed section, as of a highway or a pipeline
2) A point or area of traffic congestion
3) A hindrance to progress or production
Now, as of this writing, there are over 18 million people in this crazy little city. Even though I've lived here before, I still consider myself to be somewhat of a new hand here in China, in that I still haven't and probably never will be accustomed to sharing so much space with so many people at once.
What does "being accustomed" to living with so many people entail? It's somewhat of a "chicken-and-egg" problem, in that the problem is created by a source, which in turn is exacerbated by the problem the source creates, ie. too many people. What this has led to is people who push, shove, cut in lines, and people who make the streets utterly unnavigable at times. I understand where this comes from; with so many people all vying for similar things, you've got to cut out your own piece of the pie (or in some cases, the crust).
But here's where the bottlenecking comes in. If you've got thirty motherfuckers pushing and shoving to get onto the subway, guess what? No one's getting on or off the damn train. The Chinese have difficulty reconciling the "First off, then in" rule, in which passengers who have reached their destination get off first, and then people who are boarding get in second. They also have difficulty giving right-of-way in traffic, no matter how few cars are on the road. Once again, this is all part of conditioning via one's environment, but I mean, come the fuck on.
There's too many people in China. That's a problem. But problems are called "problems" for a reason... there's bound to be some kind of solution, so it's not unmanagable. The difficulty in this is, people, by nature, adapt to rather than confront unfavorable situations. Again, too many people in China, but no one's willing to work together to face the issue. How else do you explain the fact that despite being in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Tokyo commutes are painless procedures where people understand the concept of fairness, priority, and a little thing called "circulating traffic" that allows people to get back home to their loved ones in a fast, if not reasonably acceptable timeframe?
Then again, maybe I am still an idealist. I've only been back here about a month. We'll see how my perception changes as time goes on.
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