Eating Bitterness

The chinese have a saying which is that "one must eat bitterness" to understand the complexities of life. At the Shaolin temple, the softball sized sprained ankle I endured was just one aspect of eating bitterness, getting over pain, and eventually jumping back into the swing of things. The truth is though, in China, you eat bitterness every day. It's not because life is necessarily difficult, but rather, it's just filled with a plethora of irritating interactions with people. The Chinese, quite contradictory to their socialist roots, are very selfish and unaware of the plight of other human beings. If each human being is the "working horse" of the chinese republic, then I would suggest that they take their blinders off every now and then. One might catch the contradictions of a society hell bent on promoting the individual above the masses.

But, that's not to say that I don't like living here. The pro's greatly outweigh the con's. I was recently asked by a Kiwi (New Zealander) if I had grown bitter of China, to which I replied no, just certain things. I can't stand how people don't look to where their going. I can't stand how when you exit a subway card, it's basically a push-off between you and the entering passengers. I can't stand how basic politeness and etiquette are non-existent here. Still, I don't mind them all that much. On a bad day, I check the douche-bag guy trying to force his way onto the subway cart (after plowing through a crowd of elderly women) and I try to educate common pedestrians (albeit in broken Chinese) that paying attention to your surroundings would probably leave you clear of a foreigner elbow their person as they walk smack into me. But sometimes...well sometimes you just get pissed off at the lack of morals in this country.

Let me elucidate:

Tonight, Eleanor and a bunch of our good friends went out to a delicious, all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving dinner. It was fun, delicous, and well, we all felt like we had been given a three hour stint back in the US. However, after leaving, Eleanor and I took our own cab back home and after noticing that the cabbie had taken a long route back home, I began to grow skeptical. I had been paying attention to the meter, and then the cabbie threw his arm up blocking the meter, and began fiddling with something on the control panel. In about two minutes, the cab rate went from 29 kuai to 67 kuai. I had to almost stand up in the cab just to get a good look, with the cabbie doing his best to block my view.

Instantly, that lack of bitterness was gone. It took us 45 kuai to get to the spot from the exact location, and I knew this guy was cheating me. I thought I was good with this country, but this was one of the last straws. I lost it. In Chinese, I began to cuss the guy out. He knew he was cheating me, and I knew that cabbies have that magical button that can add 10 kuai at a press to take advantage of stupid "lao wai". First in Chinese, "Are you cheating us? I know this is too much. You might as well take us to the airport. Stop the car, we're leaving." He responded with, "No, I'm not, how much should it cost?" I said 50 kuai at most, and then in Chinese I told him I'd call the cops. Then I told him I'd call our friend in the cab that left after. He said "No, there's no reason, you tell me what the price is"...for those not familiar with China, that means he fucked up big time and got caught.

After talking with that cab, I learned that they had paid 53 kuai, and that they had taken the "long way" home. The cab was already up to 70, so I lost it. Profanities and threats later, the cabbie was willing to give us a discount--25 kuai off--how generous! We got close to our apartment, and after explaining him the fragility of his spinal column and my serendipitous location to that part of his anatomy, we were allowed to leave that cab at even greater of a discount. On my way out, I gave him a simple warning: "don't think that foreigners are your personal "banks", you do this in the US and you'll be out more than 20 kuai".

Eating bitterness is one thing, but that sour taste in the back of your mouth?--that's a country trying to swallow the lack of morality and humanity that dissolved in the race for economic gain and profit. If "a society is judged by how it treats it's least desired members," then I must say this: treat everyone with some form of respect. This country is spiral out of control. I am the last person to tout the 10 Commandments as a rule of law, but seriously, this country needs some semblance of the Golden Rule. You can eat bitterness all your life, or you might try to do something noble for your country. After all, isn't that the notion behind nationalism and pride?