an antecdote

[glenn]

I was at 7-11 today picking up a slurpie, and this guy stopped in front of my van and said "we have lots of those where I come from"
"oh, where are you from?" I asked
"Sri Lanka" he replied. "We also have one that is a little longer and has an extra row of seats. We use it for public transit, but you can't stand up in it."
"it's a 2wd?" I asked.
He said "yes", then said that once he was in one that was very crowded. When he got out, he said he counted 31 people in it!!!

He laughed, shaking his head.

We're spoiled eh?

[Todd64]

31 people?? Are they smaller in Sri Lanka?

[Green1]

the longer one is officially a 10 passenger, Mardy had one for sale a little while back...

[mararmeisto]

31 people?? Are they smaller in Sri Lanka?

The vans or the people?

Funny story along the same line: elevator weight placard in Japan indicates the maximum number of occupants is 22 persons or 1200 kg! The first three Canadian sailors in looked at each other and laughed - there was no way all nine of us were going to ride that elevator at once up to the lounge.

[mycale]

I just know there is a Chief and PO's Mess joke kicking around in my head atm but I can't put my finger on it

[mararmeisto]

I just know there is a Chief and PO's Mess joke kicking around in my head atm but I can't put my finger on it

I was a Master Seaman at the time, so I KNOW you're not trying to tar me with that joke brush...

[mycale]

wouldn't dream of it

[chrisbouchard]

when i was in kenya i often took the matatu (public transit), a nissan homy, similar to a low roof deli, diesel but only a 2wd. It had 4 rows of seats in the back and 3 seats in the front (including driver). the most people i saw in one was 24, including a woman with 4 bags of potatoes in the back seat, and 4 guys holding on for dear life from the running board with the sliding door open. one guy fell off the door while going atleast 30 and i dont know how he did it but managed to run it out with out injury! man i miss the third world!

[JMK]

During the mid-1980s, when Hainan was still part of the Guangdong Province, a fourteen-month episode of marketing zeal by Hainan Special District Administrator Lei Yu put Hainan's pursuit of provincial status under a cloud. It involved the duty-free imports from Hong Kong of 90,000 Japanese-made cars and trucks at a cost of US$ 1.5 billion, and exporting them – with the help of local naval units (mararmeisto, were you there?) – to the mainland, making 150% profits.

Some of these vehicles were Mitsubishi mini buses, can't remember if they were Delicas. However I was making an illegal trip from Sanya to Haikou in one of them. Sitting near the back with my ass on my pack (no luggage racks)my head as close as possible to the window for some relief from the agricultural smells inside the van. Girl near the front gets motion sickness (very common as they had never seen modern vehicles before the above event). The slipstream deposited some of her last meal in my face. Having a beard at the time, and trapped in my seat, I spent the rest of the trip listening the the one and only tape the driver owned while I picked rice and veggies out of my beard reminding myself that EMT's can handle vomit, and it's not the first time after all.

Years later I heard that Lei Yu was executed for his part in this huge scam, and strangely, I didn't really have much sympathy for him.

I have since shaved my beard - man i miss the third world!