LS and I were talking about the Tibetan store we were just in, when she suddenly lurched forward. We were both stunned by what had just happened, because the last place you expect to get hit by a car is on the sidewalk. Then again, this is Beijing or as once expat put it, “You haven’t lived in Beijing to you have been hit by a car”.
When LS realized the driver had backed into her from their illegal parking spot on the sidewalk she yelled at the driver to “Watch where you are going”. I became furious and slammed my fist onto the truck of the car (denting it a least) and yelled to the driver to get the f**k out of the car. As I walked over to the driver side window to tell the driver to get f**k out, I was shocked to see him and his wife just laughing at us. Bare in mind that in Chinese culture it is very improper and extremely rare to show your true emotion, so to see two enraged laowais (老外), would have been either humorous or terrifying. Since I am sure that we were not the first laowais they had seen hit by a car, they thought it was hilarious. Seeing them laugh at us enraged me and I yelled at the driver to get out of the car. The driver was too scared to get out so his wife got out to tell us she was sorry in her barley intelligible English. I proceeded to yell at her and rudely explain how bad of a driver her husband was and chastise them for their lack of regard for other people or driving regulations. All the while she just laughed at me and told me in her intelligible English, “Sa-whee”. I can not explain how unsatisfying and demoralizing it is to yell and admonish someone without them understanding what you are saying. Frustrated, I gave up and walked back to LS and asked again if she was alright. In retrospect, admonishing the couple was pointless. We should have photographed the license plate in case LS’s back was sore the next day and walked away.
When LS realized the driver had backed into her from their illegal parking spot on the sidewalk she yelled at the driver to “Watch where you are going”. I became furious and slammed my fist onto the truck of the car (denting it a least) and yelled to the driver to get the f**k out of the car. As I walked over to the driver side window to tell the driver to get f**k out, I was shocked to see him and his wife just laughing at us. Bare in mind that in Chinese culture it is very improper and extremely rare to show your true emotion, so to see two enraged laowais (老外), would have been either humorous or terrifying. Since I am sure that we were not the first laowais they had seen hit by a car, they thought it was hilarious. Seeing them laugh at us enraged me and I yelled at the driver to get out of the car. The driver was too scared to get out so his wife got out to tell us she was sorry in her barley intelligible English. I proceeded to yell at her and rudely explain how bad of a driver her husband was and chastise them for their lack of regard for other people or driving regulations. All the while she just laughed at me and told me in her intelligible English, “Sa-whee”. I can not explain how unsatisfying and demoralizing it is to yell and admonish someone without them understanding what you are saying. Frustrated, I gave up and walked back to LS and asked again if she was alright. In retrospect, admonishing the couple was pointless. We should have photographed the license plate in case LS’s back was sore the next day and walked away.
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