Chinese turn to gallows humour to cope with thick blanket of smog
BEIJING: A Beijing driver calls a radio station in a panic. The smog is so thick he’s just shot through five red lights because he couldn’t see properly and wants to know what to do.
“It’s fine, the smog is so bad nobody could see your licence plate,” the host reassures him.
As large parts of northern China suffer under thick air pollution, Chinese people are taking to the internet with gallows humour to cope with the thick blanket of smog.
In another joke, US President Barack Obama throws an intelligence report on the table, wanting to know what sort of advanced weapons system could cause Beijing to vanish from satellite surveillance.
He asks a collection of super- heroes, including Iron Man, Batman and the Hulk, what to do and who can go there, but they all hang their heads in shame.
“Optimus Prime can do it! He doesn’t need to breathe,” pipes up Wolverine, recommending the robot which can turn into a truck in the Hollywood movie, Transformers.
But Optimus Prime answers: “My licence plate is restricted today”, referring to the odd-even system.
One joke lists ways to deal with the pollution. “Individual therapy: put a mask on. Family therapy: buy health insurance. If you have money and the time: go on holiday. If you’ve no class: emigrate. National therapy: wait for the wind.” – Reuters