Comments on: It must be election time

By: waygugin

waygugin — Tue, 16 May 2006 02:34:35 +0000

I don’t understand what the hostility is all about. It sounds like nothing more than comments by a resident who is dissatisfied with some of the services offered in his community. Is it not through discussion of these kinds of municipal issues that people become interested and actually push the city council to do something about it? I would prefer that to apathy. What is wrong with wanting to have nice sidewalks? When you are a long term resident in a community with a family to raise you tend to be concerned with such issues. It may not have been as important as FTA’s, or US army bases or fraudulent scientists, but so what? It is not like the poster was making broad statements about Korean society in general. It is in fact something that Korean nationals themselves might care about.

By: Remort

Remort — Mon, 15 May 2006 22:03:59 +0000

Post some pics of the sloppy sidewalks in your area please.

By: michael

michael — Mon, 15 May 2006 12:38:52 +0000

Neither perfect nor drunk.

By: hardyandtiny

hardyandtiny — Mon, 15 May 2006 12:27:55 +0000

I like the IDEA of the cobblestones.
Where I grew up, in NY city, we had sidewalks that were displaced sometimes more than a foot by trees. We didn’t have blogs then. There were large pieces of slate split in into two pieces…no one said much about it, I think the elderly must have been upset, and that is VERY important.
What are we a bunch of old ladies complaining about the sidewalks? What the fuck? It’s a city!
Who gives a shit about elections or what they do?
You’re gonna complain about the fucking sidewalks?
They’re pretending to make the sidewalks better for the elections…? You sound like Rabbi Nisenbaum.
When a woman comes to your home to you have to clean the toilet? Who the fuck are you? You’re perfect?

By: michael

michael — Mon, 15 May 2006 12:05:53 +0000

It might be a good idea to raise taxes by a won or two if that’s what it takes to keep people from breaking their legs on shoddily made sidewalks…. This reminds me of the “national symbol” thing Marmot posted about–instead of always fretting about Korea’s “external image,” why not put some work into making Korea better for Koreans, in little things like un-f*cked-up sidewalks and a clean environment, which would have the net effect of making the country look better to the rest of the world as well?

By: cm

cm — Mon, 15 May 2006 11:37:01 +0000

Because sand is cheaper than cement. There are reasons why tax in Korea is lower than the OECD average.

By: jd

jd — Mon, 15 May 2006 10:49:40 +0000

i’ve not been a fan of the brick sidewalks ever since my foot went through one in itaewon during a bad storm. i was jumping along trying to avoid the puddles when i felt the bricks give way under me. very scary. when i looked back, there was this nice foot-size hole in the sidewalk smiling back at me. not to whine about it too much, but i figure that had i been a little more unlucky i would have had some serious damage to everything below my shin.

not sure why sand would be used as the foundation for anything that people would need to be walking on.

By: Travolta

Travolta — Mon, 15 May 2006 08:32:07 +0000

Those bricks are a problem all over the country. Every place Ive seen them they are uneven. Big pools of water gather when it rains which makes the problem worse. They’re not built with a curve towards the gutter. I honestly believe that the ppl making them have NO training at all. They make it up as they go along. When they repair them they put in odd coloured bricks that don’t match the rest or even odd shaped bricks so there are big gaps where weeds grow. It’s an absolute joke. Makes the whole city look absolutely amature. How about investing in some SKILL? Is it that hard to do it right the first time?

By: Andy Jackson

Andy Jackson — Mon, 15 May 2006 08:20:55 +0000

cm,

I think a summary would do just fine.

By: michael

michael — Mon, 15 May 2006 07:52:49 +0000

That sidewalk made of bricks with sand packed between them must be part of some kind of program to keep city workers busy, because it’s obvious that method doesn’t work…I mean it’s obvious to some people anyway.