Good to see you, Tim! You must be surprised to know mere toilet papers should strike such an sensation in Taiwan,and it even hit the headline of news. It’s hard to believe, but if every newspaper report a swarm of people in the supermarket contend for daily commodity and someone get hurt, you'll know how seriously Taiwanese think about it. The trend also encourage our Chinese teacher to purchase six hundreds box of toilet papers for fear of not having enough paper to use, meanwhile sell them at higher price, and benefit herself from this crisis. This is really out of control and perhaps the silliest thing I’ve ever experienced. Taiwanese absolutely know what they are doing, but they still keep stocking up those stuffs because they don't want to get behind the new model and minimize the cost as possible. Chinese ethnic has some extraordinary characteristics. We extremely care about money and always imitate public movement. I would recommend you to watch Fresh off The Boat, it conveys lots Chinese thoughts. You probably say they are just the instincts of human beings. Notheless, only Chinese can do to this extent. We don't want to lose any penny, and enthusiastic about big sale, while we are emotionally impulsive, wasteful, and not environmental-friendly.
Though not everyone is doing this, I still expect this tragedy will stop.
Otto,
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying the "Great Toilet paper panic" in Taiwan. I still think that it was a panic caused by the paper manufacturers, just to increase prices. All of this "panic buying" may now justify the price increase, because now there will be a shortage!
It's all very funny. Is it still going on?
I do watch "Fresh Off the Boat", and enjoy it very much. The writer is actually from Taiwan. My favorite character are the grandmother, the mother, and the youngest son. I get the idea that the mother is supposed to be the most "Chinese". Do you think so?
Tim