The hot girl (part 1)

A couple days ago, Randall, Ronnie (not the guy from Norway, this is a Taiwanese guy) and I went to Starbucks across the street from Daan Station in Taipei.

Randall is a Taiwanese guy that grew up in Sweden.

Ronnie grew up in Taiwan.

I grew up in the US.

Randall is fluent in English, Scandanavian, and Taiwanese.

Ronnie is fluent in English, Mandarin and Taiwanese.

I'm fluent in English, Mandarin, and Scandinavian.

This doesn't affect the overall story, but it's cool to note that the dynamics of this group are quite interesting;

When the (3) of us are together, we will talk in English; however when one person is gone from the group, the other two will converse in a different language.

If Ronnie leaves, Randall and I will switch in Swedish/Norwegian, respectively.

If I leave, Randall and Ronnie will talk in Taiwanese.

If Randall leaves, Ronnie and I will talk in Mandarin.

On this day, we were started conversing about the security of high-end apartments in Taipei, especially near the rich areas on Ren-Ai Road (仁愛）

"So explain something to me" I asked Ronnie in English. The expensive apartments in Taipei all have doormen for security, as expected. However they are all like 60-70 years old.

What the hell is up with that. If there was some intruder at the door, are these 大爺さん's [ōji-sans, Japanese word for old man, which is also used in Taiwan]

expected to really fight??"

"I don't really think so, a lot it is for show." replied Ronnie. "Most of the time, these guys know someone that's working in the apartment complex, and get this job on a favor.

They're not really expected to pretty much do anything except maybe just maybe greet the guests, and provide the illusion of security of having someone there."

"Yeah", I replied, "my friend Sami also said the same thing once. I guess having someone there is still better than having no one at all."

"Also don't forget," added Randall, "these days people are terrified of personal contact." If you're going to assault someone, it's more likely to be online than in person.

My guess that having an old man at the front is probably enough of a deterrent for modern youths.

In Stockholm, when I'm riding in the subway to work, it is absolutely quiet. Literally everyone is looking down at their phones. No one wants to make eye contact."

"I'm gonna run to the toilet." said Ronnie. He then gets up and leaves. The conversation then suddenly switches to Scandinavian.

"Ja [Yes]" I replied in Norwegian "da jeg var i Norge, prøvde jeg flere ganger å sier hallo til menneskene i T-Bane eller trikken men de tenkte at jeg var gal.

[when I was in Norway, I tried many times to say hello to people in the subways or tram but they all thought I was crazy]"

"Nej [No]", said Randall, "du kan inte göra det i Sverige heller [you can't do that in Sweden either]. Det är ett helt annat värde nu. Du kanske kunde göra det tidigare,

men inte nu [it's a different world now. You might have been able to do that earlier, but not now.]

Människor gillar inte nya saker nu [Nowadays, people don't like new things.]"

"Jeg har en venn i USA og han klage til meg ofte at barna sitt bare har lyst snakke med venner som de traff i fortida. De har ingen lyst treffe med nye venner."

[Yeah, I have a friend in the US and he complains to me that his kids just want to talk to their old friends, they never want to meet anyone new.]

As we are talking, we both notice a very attractive girl walk past us, and sit at a table next the wall. She was really a "looker"; not only did most of the

guys stop and stare, but most of the women did as well.

Ronnie returns and we signal him to take a look by moving our eyes in that direction.

"哇塞【wa-sai, Taiwanese slang for holy cow]." replied Ronnie in disbelief

The three of us are speechless for a few seconds. Randall then catches Ronnie up on our conversation. He also switches back to English.

"So Ronnie, John and I were talking about how the world was totally gone virtual now, and that young people are terrified of real interactions."

"Actually, I agree with that.", replied Ronnie. It's a totally different world now.

As we are talking, we notice that almost ALL of the guys sitting around us are still somewhat staring at the girl by the wall.

"Everyone is staring at her." I said quietly.

"She's really hot", replied Randall.

As we are talking, we notice see one guy really staring at her across the room. She briefly looks his way; and they briefly make eye-contact. She then brushes her long hair behind her ears and smiles at him.

"Dude," says Ronnie. "She just smiled at that guy."

"He'll go up to talk to her now..." I replied.

"No way," replied Randall. "He won't have to balls to do that. That's too direct for kids these days."

"Care to wager on this?" I replied to Randall. "1000NT says he goes up to talk to her in the next 30 min?"

"You're on!" says Randall to me. We shake hands.

Randall shakes his head. "Let's start the insanity"