7.21.2005

What Fung Wah really means

Forgive me if this post seems a bit racist. I don't intend it to be, and those who really know me know I mean this with the utmost levity.

I would joke with friends that fung wah was Chinese for cheap ride. Why? Because for $15 you can take a bus from Chinatown in Boston to Chinatown in New York City. Although it has been around for years, it has been gaining notoriety and ridership lately.

Occasionally, I go into work later than normal and am on the Southeast Distressway late enough to have the 6 a.m. bus from NYC in my vicinity. Most days, traffic is light enough at that time that it doesn't matter that the buses and I are sharing the road. Usually I can nimbly zip past them in an opening without a second thought.

Today, however, I figured maybe fung wah has a different meaning. Maybe it means cut you off. Twice the Fung Wah Bus cut me off this morning. The first time it pushed itself into the right lane near Morrissey Boulevard, and later near the Dorchester Yacht Club, it pushed its way back into the center right lane. Both times right in front of me. Why? Because each time the lane the bus was in wasn't moving, and the lane I was in was moving, and I hadn't caught up to the cars in front of me yet.

Some might argue that the break was long enough for the driver to safely get into my lane. True. But not at the speed I was traveling. I wasn't speeding by any means, because today's traffic volume was higher than normal, but I was moving faster than the Fung Wah Bus was, and twice I almost hit it in the span of a couple hundred yards.

Anyway, I chuckled to myself wishing I had someone next to me to enjoy the joke that came to mind that fung wah could mean F you.

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