12/17/24 - Are bars just a clothes buffet?
From Weibo Hotspot: “This year, everyone has been seeking a breakthrough, while witnessing “breakthroughs”—they are the names that glowed on the trending tags. Some broke records on the Paris Olympics, overcoming themselves; some stumble alone in the darkness, waiting for “rebirth”; some absorb nutrients in their industry, growing explosively…they used their story to shock us again and again with the power of courage.
As the year comes to an end, @Weibo Hotspot and @Weibo Media are using #Echoes of 2024 as a theme, in cooperation with many media companies, to create “2024 Weibo Witnesses Re-Interview Program”, to record their brave journal, to welcome a new rhythm of life with them.”
Top comment is by Weibo Hotspot: “Estimated 15 guests, 1 episode per day, looking back on the major personalities and events of this year.”
A compilation of when bosses are like parents:
“It’s well past 8 o’clock. None of my workers have showed up yet. As the owner, I’ve been here since 7:30AM, cleaning up the office for my kids and putting more paper in the printer.”
“I’ve been running deals all day, drinking so much I was hospitalised. My desk worker sleeps all day and enjoys afternoon tea, 9AM-6PM, one day weekends, 6K a month.”
“There are four people in my company, five if you include the boss. Business was bad the year before, and the owner found a job in a factory working as a welder, right around July or August, and we sat in the office every day enjoying the AC.”
“Every time the boss grabs his little backpack and heads out the door, I know that he’s going out to get a livelihood for all of us.”
“If I didn’t text the two girls in my company every day to come to work, they might have started their own careers back in their hometown. From September, I’ve been giving out new Huawei laptops to everyone, and I’m the only one who does any cleaning around the office.”
“The boss just got back from a business trip. Came to work this morning, and all I did was off-handedly ask him how we were doing this year, and he stood there and stared at the rain for half an hour.”
“I didn’t even know how to cook, and now I cook every day for my employees.”
“Scrounging up money together at the end of the month to pay my employees. The next day, everyone takes their fresh and warm wages to go on vacation while I worked overtime for days at the office eating nothing but instant noodles.”
“I only found out how terrible being a boss was after I became one myself. You never have any personal time to rest, you have to answer every call from a client. I switch freely between “boss” and “grandson”.” [The youngest person in a family, and thus, the bottom of the power chain, someone who has to obey everyone he knows because they’re all older than him.
“My first boss went and became a gigolo just to keep us alive. You haven’t done nearly enough yet.”
“My company too. There’s only about 10 people, and I’m the only one in the office. Sometimes I take a nap and wake up to find it’s already 6PM. The boss is always out trying to get orders. I don’t have to clock in or out for work. The contract says 8-5, but now that it’s getting older, I don’t show up to work until 9, and the boss is already waiting in the office for me by 8…”
“I’m the only employee my boss has. He’s worried I’ll starve to death every day and gets me takeout right on time while he’s trying to get orders outside.”
“I only go to the main office once a month and only stay for half a day. Every time I see all my babies in the office, I swear I’m going to work hard. My company is full of girls, because they’re all administrative staff or accountants.”
“My brother is this way. He’s always running here and there trying to get orders, while we lounge around in the office for 8K a month, free room and board, and get to sleep in until we naturally wake up.”
“My old company made 60 million in sales, and 50 million of it was pulled in by the boss. He only has time to stay at the hospital for half a day for a stomach bleed. His workers are always so happy and get gifts for every holiday. It was the first time I’ve seen a boss like that.”
“I’m worried I’ll interrupt my babies’ naps so I only show up to the office in the afternoon. They can do whatever they want in the morning and then take a nap. Work ends at 5PM, but they can leave early if they have something come up. There’s not much work to do either. After insurance, they get 4K a month. Not too much, but I feel attached to them now~”
“Bro, what company do you own? I want to start a business with these kinda vibes and hire a whole bunch of kids. It sounds so fun.”
A compilation of how clothes are free at a nightclub:
“Could you guys not just grab whatever jacket you see out of a booth? I had to walk home at 0C in just a towel…”
“Who the fuck took my LV scarf? I wore a real one that day too!”
“But do you have any idea how hard it is to find your clothes?”
“I loved this pink little jacket. It arrived ont he 14th and I barely wore it once or twice and someone stole it in the morning of the 30th and just left me a big, black leather jacket, so I had to wear it away.”
“Took my Moncler, left a Moncler, but it went from knee-length to hip-length.”
“Not only did they take my down jacket, there was only one coat left on the seat, and when I put it on, I found two room cards in the pocket.”
“Ohhh, so that’s how bars work. New Years is coming up soon. I gotta get myself to a bar to find some nice new clothes.”
“Someone took my Bosideng [expensive winterwear brand] and I was forced to wear someone’s obviously fake lulu home.”
“Other people are trying to dodge drinks and pouring it into my LV bag. I didn’t find out until the end of the night. All the leather is ruined. My whole world ended.”
“Last time I was drinking at a bar, some girl I didn’t even know just came up and sat next to me and started drinking with me. Then she grabbed my hand and started trying to take my Chrome Heart ring ??”
“Does anyone wear LV scarves to these in Shanghai? I really want an LV scarf lately…”
“For New Years Eve, I’m gonna wear a whole set of Temu there and come back in a whole set of LV.”
“Last year, for New Years Even, someone took my Arc’teryx, so I grabbed a Bosideng off the seats and wore it home T_T”
“Christmas, 2022, I went to a bar and someone else was buying me drinks. While playing finger-grabbing [some sort of drinking game that I don’t quite get], a guy had a bit too much to drink and yanked my fake nails right off. He thought he yanked off my real nails and insisted he pay me medical fees. I spent 28 RMB that day and made back 7000.”
“Went to a small bar to drink and couldn’t hold anymore, and saw there was a trash can right next to me, so I started secretly pouring my drinks in there. After 3-4 bottles, I finally noticed that it was the bag of the girl next to me.”
“I’ve went before in a super cheap long, furry coat, and when I left, I grabbed a Max Mara jacket. I was wondering why it suddenly got so warm and comfy. I only wore a tank top underneath. Had to take it off at the door and return it. It was so great though.”
“One time, I wore a Camel trenchcoat, got drunk, and wore someone else’s jacket home, and found it was an F426, and it was a knock off too. I was devastated.”
“Do you guys usually take off your shoes at a bar? If so, I need to go check it out. I’ve been needing a new pair of shoes.”
“Are bars just a clothes buffet?”
“A friend of mine insisted on going to a bar for her birthday. Drank too much and forgot to take her birthday presents home. It was a 100ml Chanel perfume, a gold necklace, 6000 in cash, two cartons of Golden Leaf cigarettes, and a Givenchy lipstick. She only remembered when she sobered up the next day.”
“Someone took my gold ring while I was playing finger-grabbing and I only noticed when I woke up the next day.”
“When I went to Liu Yuan to drink last year, my only Northface down jacket got stolen by someone. My mom bought it for me too and I was scared she’ll find out and get mad at me, so I bought a knockoff.”
“Go on New Years Eve in a whole set of Temu and come back in a whole set of LV. But everyone who goes is planning on that, so you’ve exchanged a set of Temu for another set of Temu.”
“Took my Bosideng, and left me an abandoned Northface T_T”
“My contacts were drying out so I took them out and put them in a glass and watched someone else drink them.”
“Okay, but could you not stub your cigarettes out on my down jacket? I just bought it and left it on the seat, and when I went home, there was a huge hole burned into it T_T”
A discussion on Shandong dinners:
“Shandong dinners are horrifying. Every single person has to stand up and deliver a speech. This is the third round now. I was just hungry and wanted to come along for some food. I’ve never regretted anything this much. My heart is beating out of my chest the entire time. My scalp is tingling and I just want to hide in hole in the ground. Forget how much I’m drinking, this is just hell for introverts. O_O”
“Where to sit at a Shandong dinner is small potatoes. The scariest part is leading a toast. You have to define a sip when you’re drinking in Shandong. Like how many sips you’re going to take to finish your cup. It’s usually set by the main host or the main guest. After setting the sip, the main host will lead with three sips. The vice host will lead with three sips. Then the remaining people each lead with one sip. Then each sub-group will make a toast to each other. And the main guest gives a speech, and the main host gives a speech, and that’s about the end.”
“First round, invite everyone from your company to take a drink with the guests, thank them for working with you, etc, etc, hope the future will be even greater blah blah blah. Basically, it’s just about gratitude and blessings. Second round, invite all the monkeys to make a toast to the boss, thank him for teaching you, promise you’re going to whatever in the future. It’s still all about thankfulness. Third round, if you’re a guy, invite all the guys to make a toast to all the girls, praise them, say something that sounds nice. We have to give three speeches with each toast, but I’m dumb, so I split it up into three speeches. It’s so stressful.”
“Isn’t this normal? Even little kids know how to give a speech. They can do it better than adults sometimes.”
“First round: “Thank you everyone for coming…”
Second round: “It’s all because of fate that we are together this day…”
Third round: “I wish everyone health…”
Or [a list of Chinese proverbs here that contain the number 1 through to 10 that you can recite off for each toast you’re making.]”
“When it comes to Shandong dinner culture, you have to figure out where to sit first.”
[To explain this graph, imagine a compass rose in the corner, the seat at the North direction is the main host. In real life, this will be whichever seat is towards the North of the room (or, if you can’t tell directions, it usually has an extra fancy napkin). Next to him are the main guest (to his right) and the vice guest (to his left). At the East and West of the table are the third host and fourth host, and next to them are the third guest and fourth guest. And at the Southern end is the vice host. The idea is to ensure that every guest is surrounded by hosts, and every hose can attend to guests on either side. The tables can get very big, sometimes seating some 30 people at once, and basically, the farther you are from the four cardinal directions, the less important you are. And the four directions are ranked in importance North > South > East = West.]
“As a natural-born Shandong native, not only are business dinners like this, family dinners are like this too. I’ve been required to say this or that blessing when I was little, and I have to go around the table to pour people tea and wine. It’s a devastating blow to an introvert.”
“Every time I attend a dinner, I have to recover for several days. Honestly. From the beginning of dinner, you have to find a seat that fits your status, then pour tea, pour water, heat all your glasses. Then the dinner starts and the main host makes a toast and the vice host makes a toast and it just goes round after round. After the fish gets served, whoever the tail points to has to toast whoever the head points to. Then you have to suck up to the boss and seriously. I don’t even want to leave my house for a whole week after a dinner. It’s death by a thousand cuts for introverts.”
“That’s honestly not even that bad. The worst is when you meet someone who likes to lecture. They can carry on for half an hour just by themselves. And once they’re done with their half hour, the next guy starts. It’s usually the older men in the house, and nobody is allowed to eat until they’re done talking. Everyone has to wait until the men are done talking.”
“Is Shandong this formulaic? Do you have to do this even if it’s just a normal family get together?”
“Let me put it this way, this isn’t just a family dinner, it is also a test of your alcohol tolerance, your worldliness, and whether or not you can be a good host. Everything here is a question, and you can answer badly, but you can’t not answer. So far, I haven’t passed a single time.”