The Workers’ Paradise Has It All. Including Pickpockets?
Thursday, January 12th, 2012Let’s list what is odd about this photo taken in a North Korean rail station:
- You could eat off the floor of the station
- All the men have exactly the same haircut
- Seven people, 0 iPhones
- People are doing something that I think used to be called reading a newspaper
What about that woman on the right? She’s wearing her backpack backwards. Any photo of any public space anywhere in the world will include bunches of people, usually women, doing the same thing. They do it to foil pickpockets.
North Korea has pickpockets?
Looking beyond the obvious — that the workers’ paradise isn’t — what could a North Korean have to pick? Doesn’t look like she has a lot of wheat or rice in the bag. Mass cards from Kim Jung-Il’s funeral? It’s damn sure not an mp3 player or a wallet full of credit cards.
The only thing that makes sense is maybe tranqs. Living in the treads of your glorious leader’s boot has got to be immeasurably stressful.
The bigger mystery, however, is her footwear. White soles on black shoes. White?