One of the perils of life here

Last night, Tom and I had an obligation for his job that took us downtown. I had Xing Ayi babysit the boys and Xiao Shang drive us. We finished earlier than we'd expected so Tom wanted to grab a quick bite to eat at an Italian sandwich place not too far out of our way. "It will be quick," he assured me when I suggested we get take out and just go home. So, we sat down and waited. After a wait of about 10 minutes, the waitress came to our table and we ordered sandwiches and sparkling water. Our drinks came but we waited and waited for the food. After 30 minutes or so, Tom said, "just so you know, we might be walking out without eating." I agreed to that, thinking he was just frustrated it was taking so long, but he then explained, "that waitress over there is coughing into her hand, spitting into a napkin and not washing her hands. If she brings our food, I'm not eating it, we are leaving." Of course I agreed, though I felt bad about leaving. Tom watched and after about 5 more minutes, the offending woman brought our food out. Tom stood up and explained that we would be leaving. He was not rude but he said it clearly that it was unacceptable for her to be doing that. We did not want her germs. They said they'd make us new ones, but knowing that 1) it would take a long time and 2) we could end up with the same sandwiches put on new plates, we said "no thank you," and left.

It was an unfortunate, though not surprising event. It's a great life here, but while China is definitely making changes, especially with the coming of the Olympics, no matter how much the government urges the people to not spit, not pee in public and be civil, it will take a long time to change the Lao Bai Xing (Old 100 Names).

If I haven't explained it before, Lao Bai Xing is the term used to describe the every day man because in China there are about 100 family names for the entire population. This is why every where you go, you meet Chinese people named: Wang and Chang. I just sat here for a moment, trying to think of another one but all the Chinese friends I came up with have these two names! Tom has worked on delegations and given the list of Chinese officers to the staff of the visiting US Admiral or General, only to be asked by the young Lieutenant or Captain if the 3 men named Wang are brothers.