Au contraire
China tries to maintain mostly full employment, so there's lots of people with non-jobs. I have seen a woman whose job it was to stand at a gate stamp supermarket receipts before you could leave, and one who would stand at the top of the escalator helping people get their trollies off. At a pool hall there was a woman employed to re-rack the balls at the end of a frame - the only person with a triangle in the whole place! But the best (or worst) I saw was in a shopping mall. It was a mere 4 stories high but they had a lift operator, who would tap the buttons for you. But since the job was so boring, the operator had a seat, and a stick!
(McChinaman banned, Tue 14 Jun 2011, 2:37, 4 replies)

There was a woman at the big lake thing at Hangzhou
whose job appeared to be standing by the pontoon where they feed the carp and gesticulating like an air hostess. As if she's saying "there are fish on the left ... and there are fish on the right ... and there are fish on the left ... and there are fish on the right"

I'm still undecided as to whether she was a municipal employee or a top-grade mentalist.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Tue 14 Jun 2011, 9:55, closed)

!!!
I wouldn't mind the job of helping ladies get their trollies off. Phwooar!! eh!
( browser still relating boring anecdotes into a void on, Tue 14 Jun 2011, 11:41, closed)

I liked the banks...
... when we visited earlier in the year.

There were always about 12 employees standing around in uniform, but only one window open and a long queue of people waiting to be attended to. There was absolutely no indication as to what the remaining 11 people were supposed to be doing if anything. It appeared that their sole job was to stand around and watch the single teller working.
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Tue 14 Jun 2011, 15:37, closed)

Every hundredth customer they do the zombie dance routine from Michael Jackson's Thriller.
It's fucking awesome.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Tue 14 Jun 2011, 15:55, closed)

I once had a summer job
that involved standing at the exit of my local Makro cash-and-carry, stamping people's receipts. I never did figure out why. Still, being close to the door, it smelled better than the rest of the shop.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Wed 15 Jun 2011, 14:08, closed)