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blakeanthony

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[交流] 【Original】Stuck in traffic, an original story by me

The following is an original story I am writing. If you like what you see, please post and I will upload the rest.

************

Heavy traffic in Beijing is common, if not infamous.  However, the root of the traffic is often attributed to China having "too many people" or perhaps, that the road design is not ideal.  These are valid reasons!  However, last week I discovered a new reason causing bad traffic.

I was on a way to a meeting, to a research hospital to discus possible collaboration in editing and translating their research material for publication in English, very common in my line of work.  We had taken side streets to avoid traffic, however, as soon as we turned south towards Chaoyangmen Wai, we hit traffic, a strange kind of traffic.  Cars were stopped. Impatient gentlemen were standing outside of their black Audis, scratching their head and sucking air through their teeth in consternation.  Something was wrong. Something was blocking traffic.  I was going to be late for my meeting.

I pulled out my Android and called my contact at research hospital to let them know we had hit into some traffic and that we may be late. "No problem" she said.  I put my phone away and asked the driver in my limited Chinese, "What is going on."  "Traffic!" he said.  "No shit" I muttered. I rolled down the window and looked out the window, in hopes of diagnosing what was holding up the show.  The three lane road had been converted into a five lane road courtesy of the petty drivers trying to inch forward. No one was going anywhere.  Military cars followed by modified Suzuki Altos, and Mini Coopers had the innovative idea to use the sidewalk. They didn't get far with this method and ended up looking quite silly being beached on the sidewalk, being yelled at by security guards.  I was distracted by what was holding up traffic by these ridiculous and futile attempts to circumvent the situation.  We were all stuck, these immature drivers were only making things worse.

I grew annoyed at these drivers and settled back down in my seat. I fired off a few text messages to my colleagues and selfishly posted my situation on Weibo. I looked through my bag, took out my notepad, looked at my notes, my brochure, visualized the meeting with the research director. Soon I realized that 20 min. had passed. We had not moved an inch. The ignition was off and the driver was outside smoking a strong smelling cigarette.  I got out of the car, but the fumes from the cars and the still chaos was too stiffling to bear.  I left my coat in the car and started walking. We weren't moving for awhile, might as well investigate what was going on.

*************

As I walked forward I passed abandoned segmented buses, taxis, economic compacts, and government cars. Most of the passengers had already given up and were on their mobile phones explaining to other parties that they were stuck. As I continued, I noticed that the cars became more and more homogenous. There were dozens of black BMWs that were decorated with red ribbons. How strange I thought. As I walked onward I could see that the road was clear in front of me. My answer laid ahead.

As I moved closer to the break in traffic I could see something in the middle of the road. Was there a terrible accident? Did a car spill something? Was there debris on the road and no one wanted to take care of it?  Was there construction?  What could be holding up traffic?  As I approached I noticed a pile of white in the middle of the road. "What in the world!?"

Since there wasn't a crowd of people trying to look at this pile, my heart sunk that it might be dangerous. Even Lu Xun said that Chinese people like to crowd around and watch other people's business on the street, even the most violent and terrible fights or arguments.  Why was there no one crowding around this pile? What was wrong?

I cautiously walked around the pile of white on the sidewalk and that is when I figured out what it was. This pile of white was a bride. Those black BMWs, her wedding procession.  How terrible!  What was she doing in the middle of the road? As I wondered, I noticed that she wasn't alone in the middle of that street. Underneath her beautiful white gown laid the body of an old women.

****************

I gasped and turned away.  I was afraid to confirm if the old women was alive or dead, I was afraid that my answer would be the latter.  I looked into the eyes of the people around me. They were muttering to themselves about safety, about speed, and about how the old women was just looking for trouble. I noticed that I wasn't breathing until I heard that last bit. I sighed. I turned to look at the scene in the middle of the street.  Sure enough, the old lady was alive. She was speaking to the bride. What were they talking about?  I tried to look at the bride's face, but her veil was in the way.  Was she scared? Was she sad? The old lady continued to lay very still.  Should I call 119 for help? Hasn't someone else already called? I decided to walk closer to see if I could provide any assistance.

As I walked up, a breeze pushed back the veil from over the bride's face. What I saw on her face shocked me.  Beneath a thick layer of make-up I could see annoyance.  She was annoyed at this old women.  What was going on?  I stopped 2 meters from where the bride huddled and ask "Do you need help?" She ignored me and continued to speak to the old lady.  I felt awkward and started to step back. A man came running towards me excitedly yelling "Hello! Hello! Hello!" I turned to see a handsome young man waving at me to move away. It was the groom. He had gotten out of his red porsche and was irritated by my interference. His "Hello!" meant "step back".  I returned to the sidewalk. I felt embarrassed.

Another man, seemingly from the wedding party, walked over to me. He asked me what country I was from. I told him "Meiguo" and he told me his cousin was studying in America.  I smiled but had nothing to add to that topic.  I asked him what the situation was.  He told me that the old lady was crossing the street and was struck by a car. The old lady won't get out of the road and won't accept any help. She had insisted on talking to the bride.  I asked her if one of the cars in the wedding party hit her. He said he didn't know.

As he explained this to me, the bride was pulled off the old lady by the groom.  She angrily yelled something at the old lady and got back into the red sports car with her groom.  The groom turned on the sports car with a loud roar and drove around the old lady, as if she was a pot hole that dotted Guijie. Other cars soon slowly followed, driving around the old lady on the road.  I could see that traffic was starting to break up.  I said good-bye to the man whose cousin was studying in the US and went back to find my ride.

On my way back to the car, I thought about the scene I just witnessed and I felt confused and sad. Why was the bride so annoyed with the old lady? Why did the old lady lay in the street blocking traffic and refuse help?

****************
I got back into the car and told the driver what the problem was.  He sucked air between his teeth and shook his head. Told me that crossing the street isn't safe, there are too many cars and too many new drivers.  I nodded in silent agreement as he turned on the car and began to slowly follow the procession.

As my car approached the spot where the scene had occured, I looked out the window to see if the old women was still in the street. She was gone.  I looked around the sidewalk to see if she was still around. She seemed to have left. I sat back in my seat and looked at my phone, I was going to make it to my meeting on time.  Just as I went to put my phone away, something jumped in front of our car.  The driver slammed the brakes, and with a loud screech the car came to a sudden stop.  The driver got out of the car and shouted impatiently. I got out of the car. There she was laying still on the ground, again.

She began to speak. I looked at the driver in disbelief. I got closer so that I could hear what she was saying. She said she had something to say to me.

[ Last edited by blakeanthony on 2010-11-5 at 10:20 ]

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