Dear Vicky: Star Ferry Men

Sep 23, 2025

Hey you! Welcome back!

Have you noticed that it’s often these small things that piss you off the most? Yesterday, I walked into an Apple retail store-not an Apple Store-to check out the new iPhones. I was so used to visiting the Apple Store, picking up things and playing around that I walked into this shop, reached for an iPhone and tried to pull it off its station. A siren went off, like there was an air raid overhead. It turned out, in Ireland, you can’t just pick up the phone and see it. The phone was placed in an ugly claw thing and fixed onto that siren trigger. Perfect presentation! You can hold the phone in your hand to feel it, there’s no way to test the camera, or do anything really, and the ugly claw thing covers a good portion of the screen, so you can barely swipe around. Who do these people think their clientele is? The mafia? A store clerk heard the siren- as did everyone in the entire shopping mall-, walked over, mumbling something, and deactivated the air raid siren. The whole experience was beyond perfect. I guess I was lucky they didn’t have those tiny cages dropping from the ceiling to keep me from walking out. What a bunch of …!

Anyway, how was your weekend?

I’ve posted about Hong Kong’s Star Ferry, my favourite means of transportation in the city. But I skipped one integral part of the story, the Star Ferry men, workers on the Star Ferry piers. It’s always men for some reason. I’ve never seen a woman working that job. As the ferry approaches the pier, these men will emerge from the rectangle shaped hole in the white and green wall, a long hook in hand. They’d pick up the rope thrown from the ferry and tie the rope to anchor the ferry. And as the ferry readies to depart, they’d do the reverse. It’s not the most exciting job in the world, I like watching this mundane routine of theirs. In a world filled with AI slops, this job is the antidote to such craze. Long live the Star Ferry Men!