by Charles Liu
The NanfangToday, 11:36
Authorities in Nanjing take their jobs enforcing the transit “no food” policy very seriously. A husband and wife were recently issued a warning for drinking water on the subway, managing to outrage the Chinese internet community in near-universal condemnation of an unjustly enforced law.
Many netizens supported the “no food” on the subway policy, which passed in July 2014; but, many online commentators did not support the apparently hard line taken on bottled water. Public outrage centred around the lack of discretion, or exceptions, to the law. Netizens overwhelmingly believed that water did not qualify as “food” under the law.
A spokesperson for the Nanjing Metro justified its strict policy by explaining how it was trying to improve Chinese society. The ban would ensure that rats weren’t attracted to sugary drink spills, puddles wouldn’t cause slip and fall accidents, and public order would ultimately be maintained.
Given the comments on the People’s Daily Online and CCTV Weibo accounts, netizens weren’t buying it:
好人没好报啊：
Not allowed to drink, but allowed to pee on the ground. [smile.emoji]SL金玉锦绣：
I don’t think drinking water should be prohibited.今日事不毕何不狗一带：
I don’t approve of this; water is colorless, odorless, and does not pollute.欢喜脐橙的天外来客：
Don’t know just how many twenty and thirty year-olds are busy taking the subway to go to work or to school who don’t have enough time for themselves. Hey, so be it if you’re not allowed to eat or drink (on the subway). But what kind of logic is it when you can’t even drink water on the subway? (For the people) who make these laws, can you put yourself in their shoes?朱偉—：
I can’t think of a country in which you can’t drink water on the subway…Seo_He：
They should ban breathing on the subway because exhaling carbon dioxide gases inside a subway car may lead to a depletion of oxygen and eventually suffocation.bbkll2015：
(They should) ban farting, which pollutes the environment. [contempt.emoji]SALT一：
I refuse.上体育课不是课啊：
Can you first outlaw thieves and perverts on the subway?!蛋蛋已被强煎：
You must be crazy; even drinking water must be controlled? Subway workers, can you first take care of fare dodgers and uncivilized behavior?不久以久：
If this were a ban just on drinking colored or flavored drinks, I could get behind it, but there shouldn’t be a ban on drinking water. If the subway aren’t able to solve this issue, then it should redesign and manage the subway so that there is no need to use such hard tactics to inconvenience the public.高晓泽童鞋：
Where is the sugar in bottled mineral water?木可爱段小妮子：
Not allowing the drinking of water is getting a bit out of hand.18岁的海底针：
Don’t understand, don’t accept.Sunny男神：
This policy is outright ludicrous.小丑Ghost-Z：
Because it’s hard for them to control, they simply ban it. Isn’t this the one option for those that govern?Rgr综合工业：
Seeing all these comments have made me crazy. [doge.emoji] It’s no wonder why regulations on mainland subways need to be so strict.
Given the opinions expressed, we bet that Nanjing will see a sharp increase in sales of bottled water and reusable water bottles in the near future, as well as a number of people suddenly getting very thirsty during their commute!
The post Forget Eating, the Nanjing Metro Won’t Even Let You Drink Water appeared first on The Nanfang.
https://thenanfang.com/chinese-netizens-defy-nanjing-metro-food-ban/
