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Tap tap tap
The Traveling Psychologist, now in Taipei, urges me to urge you to consider the environmental and economic benefits of drinking tap water instead of bottled. She's right, of course. But does it feel odd to you to drink tap water straight from the glass? It does to many folks, including many Taiwanese. The Traveling Psychologist reports:
In many parts of the world, including the US, people have developed a fear of tap water. In Taiwan, no one drinks tap water. I try to argue with them that Taiwanese tap water is among the safest in the world. I know this because Taipei has a museum called "The Museum of Drinking Water" where exhaustive information about drinking water, purity, health is on display for all to understand. Confronted with the fact that their beloved country has the safest tap water in the world, they are in a dilemma: they are such ardent champions of their country's technological and engineering superiority (witness their pride of Tapei 101, tallest building in the world), that of course they accept their government's declaration of top water purity. So they end up saying, "It's not our habit to drink water from the tap. We put it through household purifiers first."
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About Miss Conduct Robin Abrahams writes the weekly "Miss Conduct" column for The Boston Globe Magazine.
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Robin Abrahams writes the weekly "Miss Conduct" column for The Boston Globe Magazine. Robin, who has a PhD in psychology from Boston University, has worked as a theater publicist, organizational-change communications manager, editor, stand-up comedian, and professor of psychology and English. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, Marc Abrahams, founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes, which are given annually for achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think.
Who is Miss Conduct?
Robin Abrahams writes the weekly "Miss Conduct" column for The Boston Globe Magazine. Robin, who has a PhD in psychology from Boston University, has worked as a theater publicist, organizational-change communications manager, editor, stand-up comedian, and professor of psychology and English. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, Marc Abrahams, founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes, which are given annually for achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think.
