Paradox Blog

It happens every time I travel across the pacific to visit my home land. It started in the SFO. Standing in line at the check point that separates the travelers from the well-wishers, the courtesy space between me and the next person would start to shrink. I am so used to the at least half-an-arm's length's space in between me and the next person while waiting for an open ATM machine or in line for quick check out in the super market, it made me really uncomfortable to have someone breathing down my neck behind me in line in the airport. That was just the prelude, once arrived in the City of Taipei, the acceptable personal space had disappeared completely. I was brushed against, bumped into while walking on the street. No one ever stopped to apologize for bumping into me. You either got used to it or stayed home not going out on the street at all. Not going out was not an option. Taipei only comes to live with its crowds streaming down the busy streets lined with shops, swarming along the back alleys full of vendors laying their merchandise directly on the floor, and filling the benches of the food carts on each street corner. Without the crowd, Taipei is a collection of apartment buildings behind high-rises with cars and motorcycles congesting the roads and polluting the air. Come to think of it, it is physically impossible to spread people out on the streets of Taipei and give everyone an arm's length of space around. There is just not enough space.