I have used the Chinatown bus dozens of times to travel between Boston and New York City. It’s a terribly-kept secret that for $10-15, you can get limited luggage space on an uncomfortable, aging bus with a driver that shoots you over to New York City like a banshee (3.5-4.5 hours usually). But I was fascinated at the stories behind these bus companies; coming from an immigrant family whose father owned his own business, I was certain that the spirit of entrepreneurship behind these businesses must have been significant. A story in the New York Times explores some of the drama that goes on in one of New York City’s most exciting city blocks:
As the popularity of the buses increased, their numbers multiplied, and by 2002 three companies were wrangling over the little block, Forsyth Street between East Broadway and Division Street. One company owner hired several women to sell tickets on the sidewalk, and his competitors followed suit. Quarrels between rival ticket sellers became commonplace.
Each day, hundreds of people descended on the strip. To take advantage of the surge in foot traffic, local business owners eventually began selling Asian snacks like sweet olives and shrimp crackers, along with less exotic items like Pringles for the increasingly prevalent non-Chinese traveler. In closet-size booths around the corner, peddlers traded in cheap cigarettes, smuggled aboard the buses from out of state, while on the sidewalk, bored-looking men handed out business cards imprinted with come-ons aimed specifically at the homesick, like “Innocent lady, sweet home, comfortable service.”
In just a few years, a vibrant, competitive and largely self-contained economy had materialized around the bus stop, or bah-see zhan, an economy that employed at least 200 people, all of them bound to one another in a complicated network of alliances, dependencies and feuds.
(Image by spinachdip)
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Indian School Named Monkey God As Chairman
The recently opened Sardar Bhagat Singh College of Technology and Management in India decided that they wanted someone really famous and powerful to be their leader.
So the school officials named Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god as chairman:
Hanuman, the popular god known for his strength and valor, has been named official chairman of the recently opened Sardar Bhagat Singh College of Technology and Management in northern India, a school official said Saturday.
The position comes with an incense-filled office, a desk and a laptop computer. Four chairs will be placed facing the empty seat reserved for the chairman and all visitors must enter the office barefoot, said Vivek Kangdi, the school’s vice chairman.
"It is our belief that any job that has the blessings of Lord Hanuman is bound to be a success," said Kangdi.
The photo above is of a Hindu priest (in a wifebeater !?) performing prayers in front of a statue of Hanuman (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
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