Many bars in Turkey would often employ basket men whose sole purpose was to take patrons home when they were too drunk to stand up. Most of these men would work as porters during the day and then would work as basket men at night to earn some extra money.
In Turkish, these people are called “küfeci” and to be so drunk you couldn’t walk was called “küfe”. There’s also a saying in Turkey, “küfelik olmak”, which means “needing to be carried home in a basket”.
Istanbul has always been known to focus heavily on the service industry and there are many examples of this type of work that may not be common elsewhere in the world. Another example is that some Turkish grocery stores specifically hire people to bag groceries and carry them to your car.
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