Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hanson]

Ok, I'm seriously gonna go postal soon.

These fruit/vegetable/used appliance trucks (what I now call "Propaganda Trucks" thanks to a poster here) are CONTINUOUSLY driving by my place at crazy volumes. Sometimes, there are 2 and 3 trucks driving by at the same time. Sometimes, they even PARK outside my place for 10 minutes, waiting for customers.

Yesterday, I'd had enough and went downstairs to 'talk' to one of these propaganda truck drivers. I went up to his window and said 'Adjoshi', but he couldn't hear me cuz his friggin speaker was so loud. He turned it down, hopeful for a sale.

I then told him (in my broken, but sufficient Korean) that it was too loud (Shik-eu-luh-wuh-yo) while covering my ears, and told him my baby couldn't sleep (Ae-ggi Chal-su-obsoyo - a lie - but I will have a baby soon) and that it was very annoying (Jja-jeung-na-yo), and to not come down my street anymore (Ddo Oh-ji-ma-sa-yo!).

His response? He laughed, drove around the corner and turned the volume up to its previous level.

This morning, my wife tells me the same guy was back, parked outside our place for 20 minutes. Thank his/my lucky stars I wasn't home, cuz I'm not sure what I woulda done, but it woulda probably gotten me in trouble.

What can I do???

[peppermint]

buy a few bagsof his veggies, let them go rotten and then bomb him?

[eamo]

Nothing beyond what you already did.

They're an accepted part of Korean culture. Koreans don't see them as anything more than a convenient way to buy fruit, veg, etc.

If you go postal on these guys you'll get into trouble because the cops will think you are insane to get so worked up about vegetable trucks.

I feel your pain though. I hate the feckers too.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Buy some louder speakers and point them at him.

[Qinella]

I feel your pain. On my first day in Korea, I woke up out of a dream, terrified because the noise had permeated my dream, making me believe it was imaginary, but continued even after I'd awoken. That, coupled with being in a new environment, caused temporary insanity. It was truly frightening, but funny once I realized what it was.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep my first month here. Now they don't bother me at all.

[thorin]

It might help if you got your ass out of bed instead of sleeping all day.

[Grotto]

Ahh the bane of peace...blue trucks with loudspeakers blaring away at all hours of the day and night.

If you do what I did....which is go down yank the fricking wires out of the speakers and yell at them, word will soon get around that there is a crazy waygookin living in the neighborhood who doesnt like blue trucks. Amazingly all the blue trucks in my neighborhood either turned off their unholy racket or avoided it like the plague.

Dont worry about the cops because....well this is Korea.....and #2 there are actually noise laws on the books...they just arent enforced..ever

[blunder1983]

Now I have the image of a ginger dwarf going off on one at one of those trucks.............

Ha ha ha. Nice going grotto.

[uberscheisse]

or, pull the produce out of the truck and throw it at the rear window. it's great if it's apples (better if it's eggs).

i did that once. it worked. they took off and never came back again.

mind, i had asked them 3 times in bare bones yet polite and 'sufficient' korean to please be quiet, only to be rebuffed... at 8am on a new years' holiday morning. by no means do i see my actions as being unreasonable.

i'm sure the cops would disagree, but what cop would get his ass on a holiday to deal with something so minor?

[Hwajangsil Ajumma]

I say go down there and rip his still-beating heart out of his chest. Then hold it in front of his face so he can see how black it is before he dies.

I'm sure there's a law against that too, but it's never enforced.

[the_beaver]

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- it's illegal so all you have to do is pester the cops enough to do their job.

Yesterday, for example, I was at Sogang and some restaurant place across the street was playing music too loud; so the person I was with called the cops and the music was turned down in about 10 minutes.

[keithinkorea]

I've told a few of them to get lost. To the OP it sounds like you live in my neighbourhood. I've shouted at quite a few of them from my window and it often works. The sight of a very angry weygookin shouting at them in English and Korean to 'F off', 'Get lost mofo, 'you're too noisy' etc seems to do the trick.

My housemate egged one of their vans from his bedroom window once which was hilarious, that ajoshi was really annoyed



GO AWAY NOISY BANANA SELLING AJOSHI

Does anyone know where I can get a megaphone? I'm thinking of investing in one and when they park in from of my place poking it in their window and screaming at them to get lost. I've not seen megaphones for sale here.

[Hanson]

Excellent replies, thanks for sharing my pain.

Grotto - Pulling the wires out of his speaker is EXACTLY what I was/am planning to do. I figure if propaganda truck adjushi doesn't mind inconveniencing (is that a word?) me, then I shouldn't care about causing him a little inconvenience.

Thorin wrote:

[W.T.Carl]

Ah, yes, the Bongo with the blaring speakers. The first time I heard one, I thought that the north had invaded and I was being told to get the heck out of Dodge. Then I realized it was merely a street vendor hawking his produce. I never minded them if they came around in the late morning or later, but at 6:00 am I did appreciate being asked to buy mellons ect.

[Universalis]

I heard one of my co-workers had some success by going outside with his digital camera and filming their actions. It is illegal, as others have said, so they don't want to be caught on video (or hard disk).

Brian