What would YOU put on your scooter?

     
      Yesterday was my LAST day of teaching in Taiwan.  The year went by in such a rush, I can't believe it's over.  I'm really much more sad then I thought I might be, but at the same time I'm very ready to see what's next.. because honestly I have NO IDEA what's next.  Anthony and I will be traveling for the next month, living as homeless wanderers, and we're very excited.  Moving away from the depressing subject of "what do I want to DO with my life?" let's discuss scooters.  I've written a few posts about scooters, and there will be another one coming once we return from our week long scooter excursion around the island of Taiwan.  For now, however, I will stick to scooters from the Taiwanese perspective.  Well, still my perspective, but on how the Taiwanese utilize these majestic motorized mobiles.

      I knew before coming that they were a very common form of transportation.  Although that is indeed extremely true, I was surprised at the number of cars you can also find on the streets.  What's fabulous though, is that the cars know how to drive with all the hundreds of scooters.  Most of them anyways, are respectful of the scooter lane and keep their distance.  No one wants striking and majorly injuring a human on a conscious, I hope.  There is the occasional ass hat that tries to speed around cars on a two lane and does so by driving in the scooter lane, but that's why one must always use caution when driving.  On to scooters.
      After only a few months it became clear that the people will use scooters to transport anything.  Propane, sure!  Strap it on the back, 3 big canisters?  Why not try for 4.  All deliveries for that matter are made via scooter.  Pizza, lunch boxes, tea, errrthang.  Super zippy and quick!  Even the mail men go about on their scooters.  They wear all green, drive on a green scooter, and have a huge orange bin with all the mail strapped on back.  Usually they drive right up on the sidewalks in the shopping areas and just drop the mail right on the shelves or wherever they see space.

      Scooters are also used for managing large recyclables, such as massive amounts of flattened cardboard, huge sacks of plastic bottles, lots of shit they can bring and get money.  People also tote around large amounts of vegetables.  It's not uncommon for me to see old people carrying big bags of cabbage and sprouts dangling around by their legs, and exhaust.  
       People are included in this cramming crap on to the scooter as well.  It's not uncommon to see a family of 5 on 1 scooter.  Mom, dad, brother, sister, and a baby all wedged up in there.  If the whole family doesn't come along, maybe mom just brings the baby along, she slings it over her front in one of those Baby Bjorn things, just bouncing around on the roads with tons of traffic and dirt all over the place.  Suuuuper safe for baby!  Don't forget the dog either. Whether it be a little dog, which is what it tends to be as most Taiwanese are frightened of large dogs, chilling out in the open, or poking out of a purse.  If by rare occasion it's a larger dog, they ride by their feet with ass and head hanging over via wide load.

 Yea.. this guy for sure saw me taking this picture. Big deal. Check out their kid in a little chair at the bottom!

       Aside from things the Taiwanese carry on their scooters, the fashion when riding one is also pretty choice.  As I've said before, they don't like the sun to contact them, so measures must be taken to make sure this doesn't happen.  Well, it's super duper hot right now, but they still need to cover their arms when riding.  Usually they wear the jacket backwards with the zipper left unzipped in the back.  They also sell these sleeves that you slide on up to your shoulders to cover you entire arm.  Finally, there are these things that look like oven mitts that can be sewn on to the handle of the scooter so when you drive your hands are completely covered.  These are multidimensional as they are good to protect your hands from the cold wind and rain as well as the sun!

Even though she's not on a scooter, this lady on the far left is still sporting the removable sleeves to cover herself, because the hat and umbrella are not enough whilst being outside.  

Alright kids, that's it for now.  Stay tuned to the chapters that follow which will include my scooter trip down the East Coast!  That I leave for tomorrow.  At 6 am.  Aaand I haven't packed yet.  Peace!