The owner attired in a sharp cut business suit rushed to the kneeling old man still struggling to get up. I thought he was going to help the old guy but I was in for a shock! The young man in his late twenties started yelling at the old man at the top of his voice. I could not understand a single word of what he was saying but I needed no translation. His tone, pointing finger and waving gestures conveyed it all! He was accusing the old man for hitting his car.
I watched the whole scene in stunned silence from a distance. No one even bothered to stop. The cars rushed by and pedestrians went on throwing a few uninterested glances. The old man finally manage to stand up on his shaking legs and stood there with a bent head that was still bleeding while the young man made his angry dance. He was obviously outraged for the damage to his car. I tried looking for that damage but there was no visible signs. The old man stood there in an apologetic posture and that's when it struck me!
It was not the old man's fault but he was sorry. He was apologetic for his poverty! The young man was in the wrong. He had abruptly stopped the car, causing the whole scene. There was no obvious damage to his car yet he was yelling! He was angry because he could! He had the power! The power of money!
I observed this scene in China but the sad part is that it could've been any one of the countries in Asia. Such a scene is so common in that part of the world that people were surprised as to why did I even notice or bothered to discuss it! Unfortunately class system rule large in many Asian countries where living in disgrace is the punishment for the crime of being poor! There is no respect for human rights in those societies. Might is still right there.
There is no where near enough information to in this story to be judging anyone on anything. 1st>Do you know how many people are in dept past their eye balls and barely making ends meet that drive Beemers and wear expensive brand name clothes (which you CAN find at discount and 2nd hand stores)? The car and clothes are no indication of money nor status anymore. 2nd> The man telling the story admits he can not hear what is being said...for all he knows the man could have refused to be taken to the hospital and the driver is going off because he thinks he needs medical attention but the man is refusing. 3rd> What was the reason that the driver came to an abrupt stop? Was there something or someone on the road the story teller can not see? The writer of this story is the one in the wrong for making false statements based on biased judgements that he holds within himself and needs to examine and correct within himself so that he is not spreading his biased to others without full, factual, information.
ReplyDeleteMr. Crume, I understand your point and I might have been wrong but I've lived in that part of the world to understand the mentality and also the big status gap in the upper and lower class.
ReplyDeleteFor someone not from that region it is difficult to comprehend but when I tried discussing it with Asian friends, they were like, oh yeah, the rich are always venting out their anger on the poor ...so what? They expressed sympathy but all admitted that it was a common phenomena!
Household help is often yelled at!
Even in offices, subordinates stand up and salute their officers!
Students stand up and say greetings when a teacher enters a classroom!
It's an entirely different system than the West!