Why Do You Hate Riding the Bus, Comrade?

BEIJING (Reuters) – China's bus drivers and ticket sellers have been urged to leave communism behind, with a new training manual instructing them to call travelers "sir" or "madam" instead of "comrade," state media reported on Monday.

Older Beijingers, a few of whom still wear "Mao suits" that were once a virtual uniform for China's hundreds of millions of citizens, will be exempt from the new ruling.
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A newly released manual for Beijing bus staff suggests forms of address ranging from "student" to the plain "passenger" for younger travelers, for whom comrade has a different gloss, as a slang term for gay.
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