I
went for a Sunday breakfast at this place called “Spur Steak Ranches” – a
Native American-themed South African chain down the street in the Pioneer Mall
(it’s like I’m living in the Old West!).
My booth was adjacent to one with a trio of Chinese ex-pats and we both
had the same waiter – a very polite young man that provided good service (the
service here in the restaurants has so far been very good). After making a total mess of their table,
getting a doggie bag (Really? Who takes home leftovers from breakfast?), etc., they
completely stiffed the waiter. He was
clearly shocked and actually called them out to see if maybe they’d forgotten –
he wasn’t mean or aggressive about it, more like shocked and hurt. Of course the Chinese guy he was following
away from their booth just gave him an incredibly smug and condescending smile,
while digging in his teeth with a toothpick – making NO attempt to be discreet
about it, either, of course.
Boy
did that take me back! And upon reflection, it’s nearly impossible for me to
convey in words the contempt I feel for the Chinese (in China) on a macro level
after living among them. Yes, most of
the people I worked with at Disney were okay, but they themselves will admit
they are “different.” And yes, there are
assholes in America, too – a lot of them.
But, again, on a macro level – on a “per capita” basis – the (mainland) Chinese
are rude, selfish, disgustingly uncouth and often appallingly unhygienic,
arrogant, savage, clueless, mean-spirited, selfish, hateful, inconsiderate,
racist, and xenophobic, I could go on and on.
It reminds me of the line in “Gone With The Wind” when Scarlett O’Hara
laments, “Oh, I just can’t think of anything bad enough to call you!” And if you think I’m exaggerating, I could
give you person after person after person who will back me up – and not just
other Americans.
Multiple
people have now told me (and not just Disney English folks or Westerners that I
met while living there) they didn’t like the kind of person they were turning
into after spending much time around the Chinese. And what makes it all ten
times worse is their laughable arrogance.
They genuinely believe they are a “superior” people. And while that may have been true several hundred years ago, it’s not even
close to being true today – and not by a long shot (Of course, America is certainly not close to
being a “superior” country/civilization itself, so it’s not like I’m trying to
slam another country to build “my own” up).
Granted, said arrogance comes from their parochialism and
cluelessness--but living amongst them, experiencing the appalling level of
their overall assholery and savagery, it is just that much more horrible to
experience when they are SO unaware of the sheer scope of their douchebaggery.
Or incompetence. The banks, postal system, etc. are all laughably inefficient
and seem to be run by morons. There’s an almost comic “am I being punked?”
paranoia, inefficiency, and bureaucracy. And don’t get me started on their
shoddy construction!
And
if you think I’m being unduly harsh, note: even other Chinese feel the same
way! Go to Hong Kong and talk to the Chinese
there and they will sniff disdainfully when discussing “mainlanders.” Ditto for Taiwan. My friend Bex stayed with a Chinese family
during a trip to Hong Kong and mentioned she had a 2-bedroom apartment if they
ever wanted a place to stay in Guangzhou.
They looked at her as if she was insane and basically said, “Oh, ewww,
we don’t go to the mainland!” While on
the one hand it seems silly to go through passport control between Guangzhou,
China and Hong Kong, China, it really IS like a different country. No smell.
Efficient. Clean. Etc.
Singaporeans, about 70% Chinese, are so disdainful of their mainland
cousins, they won’t rent to them – finding them to be many of the things I’ve
mentioned above.
And
while I’m “enlightening” folks about the Chinese, let’s dispel a few
myths: Industrious and
hard-working? HA! I mean, I thought people were “lazy” in
Hawai’i – but there it really IS more about “island style” kind of living. Just mellow and chill. The Chinese – again, on a macro level, with
exceptions that prove the rule – are not only grossly incompetent in many, many
areas, but also supremely lazy. I saw people asleep there EVERYWHERE – and at
every time of day. In fact, more than
one local I met, actually bragged
about how lazy they are! Seriously! You
may ask, “But how do they throw up a 50 story office tower in 3 months?” Duh, it’s easy when you put 10,000 slaves on
it and have them do a half-ass job.
Almost everything is done in a shoddy manner with cut-rate materials
and—apparently—zero quality control.
That
old chestnut about the Chinese being a patient people? Hahahahahahahaha. I can only imagine this may have been the
case hundreds of years ago, but, man, if you thought Americans were
impatient…..the drivers will honk at you for slowing down to turn a corner. And
while part of why they may push ahead of you in the food line, store, metro,
elevator, cab, etc. is just because they enjoy being assholes, they just can’t be
bothered to wait for ANYTHING. One of
the few “joys” I had there – and, again, tempered by the fact that they’re just
such assholes – was watching when
their impatience warred with their laziness.
It’s truly a satisfying sight to behold – as well as to try to
antagonize. Seriously, I totally get the
folks who say they couldn’t stay longer amongst the Chinese coz they didn’t
like the kind of person they were turning into.
I took malicious glee in blocking someone from trying to shove
past/ahead of me to get on the Metro, would deliberately punch the “door close”
button on the elevator when I saw someone entering my lobby, etc.
And
they put the group before the individual?
Don’t make me laugh! Again, I thought Americans reigned supreme when it
came to a “Me first” mentality – but they are mere amateurs compared to the
Chinese. Unless you’re an immediate
family member (and even that’s iffy), they would just as soon let a building
full of children burn down if it meant them not getting to the front counter to
get their fucking rice that very moment—in fact, they’d probably be
ecstatic/think they won a prize, if people ahead of them rushed to put out the
fire because then they’d get their food quicker. Of course I’m being silly coz no Chinese person
would rush to help put out a fire—hell, if one of their fellow human beings
passes out on the train in front of them, they can’t get away fast enough. Witness:
We
used to have debates at DE about whether they are assholes or just stupid in a
completely clueless way. The drivers do
astonishingly stupid things on a regular basis.
They genuinely don’t seem to understand how elevators work, often
pushing both the up AND down buttons to (I guess?) get it to come quicker. And then going ahead and getting on when it’s
going the opposite direction (to “save a space” I suppose?) w/o even bothering
to look/realize the other elevator is a couple floors away and headed in the
direction they want. My building had two elevators that were constantly busy
and you’d have to wait for. But if both
happened to come down to the lobby at the same time, and say about 4
individuals were waiting, they would deliberately “split up” and take both
elevators to not have to ride with too many of their fellow human beings, even
if it meant both elevators then working their way up 20+ floors meaning new
people coming in the building would be forced to wait. They will consistently line up straight out
from a building to get lunch, completely blocking the sidewalk, rather than
lining up perpendicular to said building/along the sidewalk. Again: stupid or just asshole? They will stand right on top of arrows at the
Metro facing the other way – staring straight at signs that say don’t block the
entrance, don’t push, civil ride, etc.
Despite repeated pleas in the office for the young women to quit
spending 20-30 minutes at a time in the one staff toilet on their cell phones,
doing their hair (when it could be done in the locker room), etc. when teachers
would be trying to squeeze in a pee between classes, they would continue to do
so – again: stupid or just asshole? They
will do major repairs, banging and working on their apartments from 1-5 in the
morning, despite repeated pleas to be quiet.
Again, I could go on and on.
Obviously,
no country is perfect. I mean, can an
American really judge any other
country considering, for example, our own horrific prison system? Or the endemic racism? The out-of-control cops. The outrageous violence and constant
killing. The continued welfare billions
for huge corporate farms while cutting food stamps. “Standing your ground” against black kids or
Alzheimer’s victims. The fact that the
Iraq war could have fully funded social security. The stupid media obsessions with things like
that asshole on Duck Dynasty or Obama taking a selfie. Although I didn’t spend a LOT of time there,
my sense is the Nordic countries are the ones doing it “right” – on the whole.
And I’ll certainly be curious to see how Lesotho “stacks up” considering its
own challenges. But at the end of the
day, I’m definitely glad to be out of China – and, considering the continued
implosion, not too unhappy about being out of the states, as well.
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