No Duck For YOU!

You have to know what it's like living here in Taiwan. There are things that happen here that drive us westerners crazy, mainly because we are so set in our ways. One thing is traffic. It seems the laws here are viewed as "guidelines", and that includes stopping at red lights and stop signs, turning into traffic, stopping a vehicle and blocking lanes in order to run in and get a bowl of noodles. I could go on. Of course Taiwan is not the only place in the world like this, and I have to say traffic is MUCH better here than other places I've lived, but it still gets to a person occasionally.

The other thing is waiting in line. I know there are those in the states who don't do this, either, but it seems to be more common here. I tend to let it go, unless I'm in a hurry myself. But this tendency to not wait in line is what made yesterday so comical.

Enter the duck lady. A lady on a street corner who sells roasted duck. We'll call her the Duck Nazi, because much like the Seinfeld character, the Soup Nazi, she ruled her place of business. People lined up, LINED UP I said, around the corner to get her ducks. No one cut in line. No one spoke. Every one waited their turn.

Step up to the line.

Duck Nazi: "One?"
T: "One." Hands money.
DN: "Change."
T: "Thank you"
T side steps to the right to wait for his food.
T receives said food, walks away, careful not to speak to soon, a little smile of triumph on his lips.

We're still talking about it. If we get a chance to go there again before getting on a plane, I'll post pictures. You gotta see it to believe it.