I miss banter.
Small talk and banter are not the same thing.
I’m going to resist the temptation of resorting to the “I feel disconnected from humanity” train of thought. Because it’s an alarming statement, but I’m actually not alarmed by it. just feeling kind of tired. And missing banter. That’s all.
There are actually some things to talk about. The first of which would go under the heading “what’s in the bag” should I choose to employ headings in my blog, which I don’t. that said…
I was walking to work last week, the same route that I take 4 out of the 5 days of my work week. So I exit through the smaller of the two back gates of my complex, past the wal-mart, to the first intersection (in case you wanted some specifics of what my route entails in this Chinese city). The first intersection presents you with choices. Tough choices. To go straight and then cross the street when it’s all one way on the other side or to cross first, then take the light across? These are the tough decisions I must make on a daily basis. Anyhoo, I opted for the latter, as I refuse to ever run to try to make a light. Same with buses or subway cars. I will only ever run if it’s to beat a taxi thief and then spit on them, or be present while other people I know spit on them, as has happened. Recently, even.
So there I was, in the middle of the street and an old woman was walking toward me. She was carrying a cloth bag that was writhing a bit as she struggled to keep her grip on it. I’ve seen all manner of bagged items, and all manner of bags. My favorite is the duck/chicken bag. You can put 2 live ducks or chickens in it, ass to ass, with their heads protruding from either side of the bag. The ducks or chickens always seem pleasantly relaxed in this state, unaware of their impending (probably inhumane) doom. But the old woman’s bag had no holes in it, which confused me. What was writhing in that bag? Not a fish, because those are usually being peddled on the street in clear bags so you can see what you’re bargaining for. Maybe a child, but probably not. Maybe a turtle or a crocodile, or something else you never expect to see but then actually do with shocking regularity (okay, not in bags, but generally speaking). As she passed me, I heard the contents “meow.” So that was a first. something tells me it wasn’t a pet.
Speaking of firsts, and cats too in a roundabout way, I made my first trip to ciqikou ancient city. Shoot me in the fucking face. Jesus Christ that was rough. I had even woken up that day and made a mental note “I fell like I can be nice to the random rude people I will inevitably encounter today should I choose to actually leave my apartment.” Before I forget the cat segue that made me think of ciqikou in the first place, I should mention there were lots of mangy cats loitering in this place. Mangy? yes. Rude? not particularly. Good jorb, cats.
A bit about ciqikou. It’s a tourist trap in china. I should also add that it was a national holiday, so tourist trap plus holiday equal a very very bad idea. But we went ahead and pursued our bad idea. We=me, jules, rory, and rory’s dad, dave (he’s here for a month).
The taxi dropped us off and we were immediately in the throng of a herd of humans. Anyway you ventured was a bottleneck of Chinese proportions. For future reference, any time I say anything is of “Chinese proportions” it is either a) really big; b) really inefficient; c) really cheap; d) really frustrating; e) really dirty; or some combination of these. Long story short, I got into a shouting match with a pregnant woman (and her withered old mother) who pushed me and then accused me of elbowing her in her stomach. So I was the white devil who goes to public spaces to elbow pregnant Chinese women. Touché. If my memory serves me correctly (and it always does) I only got her in the arm, not the stomach… but it’s very easy to say that a foreigner elbowed you in your pregnant stomach with the intent to kill your unborn child, which makes for a very exciting story on her end. And I just wanted to buy some cheap earrings…
anyhoo, I can only tolerate so much zoo-like pointing whispering and laughing and the general lack of subtlety. I think it’s the last part that gets me. Be discrete. Be subtle. There is an art to it.
In this case I was able to tolerate about 5 minutes worth of such brazen judgment. going to places like this are the times when i’m the most skeptical of china’s perceived role as a superpower. People treat me like I’m sub-human and they’re the next superpower/great economy? It’s not just rude people that make me so skeptical of china’s role in the world, it’s the poverty and the traffic and the grit and the ignorance. Always strange. Usually interesting. Sometimes frustrating. Constant. And yet I’m still here. it baffles me, too….
Not much else to report. Going on what I do believe to be a much-needed vacation. To yunnan. I shall finally hike the gorge.
