The whole world’s a….uhh…toilet?
Written By: Due-East on June 6, 2011
2 Comments
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| Anybody who’s been to China knows that sights like the one above are extremely common here. It seems that the whole diaper thing that the rest of the world uses never really caught on here in China. So it’s not uncommon to see small children (and even children who seem to be as old as 6 or 7) poop or pee in public. Some people take their kids to semi-private spots to do it; others just do it wherever they’re standing. I’ve stepped in or almost stepped in all kinds of bodily wastes here. |
| And, as has been commented on by many people over the years, our thinking and ways in old age often tend to mirror our thinking and ways early in life. Case in point, today on the way home from work (which was right about the middle of the day), I came upon an old man’s butt. It was, of course, attached to his upright legs as he shuffled along the sidewalk to the bus stop. The disconcerting thing about said butt was that it was completely exposed. “Peculiar,” I thought. “Maybe he doesn’t realize that his pants are slipping down. Poor guy. I’m sure he’ll get it in a sec-GEEEEEEWWWWW!!!!!” That’s when I noticed that about 10 feet behind him lay what looked like a very large, messy pile of human excrement. I hung back about 20 feet to avoid both the smell and the person himself. Eventually the bus came, and he got on, sitting in the front. I, of course, sat in the very back. |
| In the old man’s defense, he was pretty decrepit (he could barely get on the bus), and there were no bathrooms in sight. It could’ve been that he had no choice. Maybe he figured it would better to let loose on the sidewalk and keep his pants a bit cleaner than they would otherwise be than to wander down a hill that he probably couldn’t get down safely and quite possibly might never be able to get back up just to find a slightly more private place. I didn’t ask about his reasons. I just got on the bus and tried to forget what I just saw… |
Tags: china, Chinese, Culture Clash, Expat story
Thats it! Forget China, I’m going back to Taiwan. I don’t think I can handle that.
It’s not that bad! Otherwise, I wouldn’t stay here. I’ve been here for a while now, and this is the first time I’ve seen a grown man poop on the street. And I’ve only seen one grown woman pee in public, but she was trying to do it out of the way. China isn’t designed with bathroom convenience in mind, and when you gotta go, you gotta go! I suspect that things like this, which are already rare, will become more and more rare as time goes by because they’re building public bathrooms more and more here. So, again, I’d say at least come VISIT China before you go to Taiwan to see for yourself how it is here…