Manufacturer Gone Missing

Here’s something that gave me a kick at a local Kaohsiung Papaya Milk 高雄木瓜牛奶 that I sometimes go in.

There’s a mechanical cow at the back of the shop for kids to ride. A while ago it stopped working. So that staff taped a notice to its head that said 故障 (gùzhàng) “out of order”. This remained for a few weeks until one day I saw the following label taped over the coin slots.

永久 just seemed so over the top – the cow is forever out of order. Don’t get your hopes up kids, it’s never going to be fixed!

Conveniently, the staff had also written the Zhuyin next to the characters. Presumably so disappointing kids could return to their table and be able to explain to their parents why they weren’t riding the cow.