Caffeine is a psychoactive substance of the stimulant class. You could definitely categorize it as a "drug".

I know, I'm taking issue with calling sugar a drug, not caffeine.

If I told you a consumable substance is mind-altering, habit-forming, pleasurable and difficult to quit, very bad for your health in the quantities most abusers take it, but they continue to do so anyway- what would you call it?

I've always maintained that most "drugs" are just drugs other people dislike, and everyone is apparently happy to go along with this cognitive dissonance; hence the common phrase "drugs and alcohol", "drunk driving" vs "drug driving" etc etc.

> If I told you a consumable substance is mind-altering, habit-forming, pleasurable and difficult to quit, very bad for your health in the quantities most abusers take it, but they continue to do so anyway- what would you call it?

Macdonald's food?

I'm from Poland, and I'm quite sure that 15 years ago you could say the very same thing here. Not anymore. Things change.

No need to wait at no window. After you activate Alipay, just click on "Transport" and create a metro card for Beijing. Scan code on enter, scan on exit, pay the sweet low fare automatically. One app, 30+ cities.

"Activating Alipay" requires using an identity card or passport.

You don't have to wait at the ticket window though. Privacy? Maybe not. But convenience? At every corner.

So deliveries and contractors suddenly need bigger vehicles than before?

Why bigger? Just the ones they use now, which the post I responded to suggested to junk them all. If that happened, then what?

So you can stay in line or go private to skip it. From my European POV, both paths are viable, but when you have "free" options, paid ones don't have exorbitant prices.

> but when you have "free" options, paid ones don't have exorbitant prices.

This is not my experience. Paid options in the UK are exorbitant, because there is almost no market for them. In my experience, it's cheaper to just fly somewhere with good medical tourism for the issue you are having than get it treated privately in the UK.

For the record, I still much prefer the UK system to the US system.

I'm an expat Brit, been living in the States for a decade and a half. I've been through the NHS for various more significant health things, and had family that have opted for private.

I don't think you grasp just how expensive private healthcare is in the US, even with an insurance policy. Private health care is so much cheaper in the UK. If you're saying it's much more expensive than Europe, maybe that'll give an idea how expensive it is to get sick in the US!

The US system is messed up beyond belief. One of the notable improvements recently has been the transparent pricing rule signed in to law a few years ago. So now I can see what things cost a bit more in advance, but I can't ever predict how much my insurance will actually choose to pay. Oh, and if it's inpatient, and I don't like the cost, well tough. I've really only got a couple of hospitals to choose from, and their prices are pretty much in sync, and only one of them is "in-network" for most procedures (meaning insurance wouldn't cover much at the other one)

No one is comparing UK private insurance to Turkey or Vietnam. They're comparing US to UK, and yes, even private care to skip the lines in the UK is way cheaper than similar care in the US.

I went public and private routes for a surgery last year, ended up with the NHS as the process was faster, additionally ended up getting a payment from my private insurance for going the public route.