Is a Chinese idiom I recently learned. Since you are a clever person I think you can figure out what it means. I'd like to start a new one that says "a person using a pay phone." Since starting this particular blog about a year and a half ago, I wondered If I'd ever see somebody using a pay phone. For what seems like the past five years, I think I'd only see somebody use a pay phone once or twice.
I guess it shows how easy foreigners have it now. Now their cell phones from abroad can work here, or if needed it's easy to get a prepaid cell phone plan here. Back in my day, you could only get a sim card if you had a Taiwan foreinger ID, but when you first arrive in Taiwan to the time you get one of those can take up to three months and that's even if you had a job lined up before you come.
I remember my days of first being here and having to run to the subway station's pay phones to make calls, and having to carry different phone cards cause each pay phone seemed to use a different type of card.
Heck I even remember once i got a sim card and was using prepaid cards for my cell phone. How I would go to "little Manilla" to get cheaper prepaid cards. Those were the days when they didn't let foreigners have a monthly cell phone plan even if they had a Taiwan foreigner's ID.
Yep this new fresh off the boat westerners have it pretty good. Being the modest person that I am, i'll take the credit for blazing a trail for them.
As for the picture. This guy was actually on the pay phone in the exact subway station I used to use to make calls almost nine years ago. It seems fitting since it will probably be the last time I ever see somebody using a pay phone.
