by Quarzart Wang
After a woman struggled with her jammed motorcycle on the pavement of Hsinhai Road 辛亥路for twenty minutes, she finally sought help from others and was able to free her bike. She complained bitterly at the workers who moved her bike so disrespectfully-they had rammed it into a tree. This is the kind of problem the workers on Hsinhai Road have caused us over the past few weeks (starting from March 15) and it has been a trying ordeal for us all. But when silent curses cloud our minds, we often forget that our convenience is mainly built on the labors of others. If we looked closer, we could see the workers all glistening with perspiration. Sweat beads from their foreheads overflowed the dam of their brows and lashes even on a sunless spring afternoon with a mild, cooling breeze. First, they had to dig out the whole sidewalk; then they put concrete blocks over the newly dug water mains; then they flattened out the surface of what was left of the sidewalk; and then they placed metallic wire grids over the pressed surface. Then came the real labor - cementing and re-paving. The “tiles” they use are 30 by 60cm and 6.5cm thick. These grayish-white concrete slabs have to be lifted, pieced together, and laid down one by one with gloved hands and “cemented” shoes. When I inquired them about the reason for laying the new sidewalks, they replied that these slabs were much more durable, and could take more abuse from bikers. Sections One to Three of Hsinhai Road are only a start; most of Taipei’s ancient red tiles walkways are to be converted into these enormities (personally I think it is marvelous that someone finally got around to doing something for our frequently fragmented pavements). They said that they were hurrying the work around our campus to try to cause the least inconvenience, and would be done in approximately two weeks. When I asked them what the major problem was in refurbishing the pipes and pavement, one of them pointed to a car parked on the pavement, and then to row upon rows of bikes, and said, “This, and the rain.” I had no idea how they were going to remove the car, but I’m certain that I would get bike-a-phobia if I had to move so many scooters, not to mention a pair of much, much longer arms. a
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May 2024
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