While Taipei City officials ponder the pros and cons of trying to ban betel nut sales and chewing -- and spitting -- along the capital city's thoroughfares, an enterprising betel nut shop in Chiayi City has come up with a novel way to help movie theater owners in the south of Taiwan keep their floors free of the plague of betel nut spittle.
The shop has designed small red pouches (pictured) that are handed out free to movie patrons when they enter the screening rooms. All you do is squeeze open the pouch and spit the red juice -- and fiber -- in. (Of course, the pouches advertise the shop's name and telephone number, so there's a method to this madness).
Have the little red pouches proven successful in keeping movie patrons from spitting the red juice on the floor?
Our research department in Chiayi is still looking into the experiment and promises to report back as soon as all the data is in -- or on the floor, as the case may be.
What do you call 'em?
Decades usually get names, such as the Roaring Twenties (1920s), the Gay Nineties (1890s) or the Sixties (1960s). But with the new millennium sneaking up on us faster than we want to admit, a big question looms.
Just what are we supposed to call the next decade? According to a recent issue of Asiaweek, a British public relations firm queried some people about this, and the top choices were the Zeros, followed by the 00s (the "Oh-Ohs") and the Earlies.
What's your suggestion for a name for the next decade? Send in your ideas by e-mail, snail mail or fax to us at the Taipei Times.
E-mail news and notes to
offthebeat@taipeitimes.com
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