It is 12:30am Sunday morning....and...I can't sleep. We put Tucker on the plane today bound for Portland and hope he has an uneventful trip. We are not sure when or if he will be back in China so yesterday was a little nostalgic. However......as life goes here....we have what they call "Shang-high" days and "Shang-low" days and yesterday was a "Shang-very low" day. What I am going to write may be a little graphic so if you have a weak stomach you might want to skip this blog.

Yesterday.....
Tucker and I went to Yu Garden for some last minute shopping before he started packing. It was very busy.....people everywhere....(I think because this is the last weekend before school starts) .....the sky was a little dark and it was pouring down rain.....Tucker and I were sharing an umbrella.....which is sort of a funny sight when I think about it. Anyway.....we finished our shopping and Mr. Zheng picked us up and we drove out of the shopping area. We have been on this road many times....both driving, walking, and scootering. The road is about 1 1/2 lanes wide....it is "one way" for cars and taxis....but "two ways" for scooters and walkers. There are vendors on one side of the road selling all sorts of "stuff". As we drive through this crowded area we notice there is someone laying in the middle of the road. It was hard to tell what was happening exactly but something did not seem right. When we got closer we could see that the person was injured....and Tucker said "Oh my God...he is bleeding...he is really hurt." At this point Tucker jumped out of the car and said...I saw an ambulance...I will go get them....and he took off running. I was afraid to get out of the car because I was afraid of what I was going to see. It was still pouring down rain.....and people were walking and scootering around the guy that was laying in the street. No one was helping him. I was afraid he was going to get hit by a car....and as I got out of our car.....a taxi was trying to get past.....and the driver was honking his horn at the guy on the ground! What the heck??? This was the most bizarre scene I have ever witnessed. I did not know what to do....so I held the umbrella over the guy and tried to protect him from getting hit by a scooter or car. People were standing around watching.... no one helped him. By this time I could tell that the person was an older man and he had a serious head wound.....he had a big cut under his left eye and there was blood everywhere. He sat up a little bit and I had Mr. Zheng help him out of the road...he sat on the curb for a few minutes while I held the umbrella over him.....still no one helped him!!!! People just stood around and watched. I asked for a cloth for his face....and of course they could not understand me....I was in shock and I was disgusted that no one offered to help him. Mr. Zheng talked to him a little bit....and it looked like he was going to be okay but he was still bleeding.....still no cloth....still no help from ANYONE! I called Tucker to tell him that I thought the guy was going to be okay....and Tucker was also in shock. He found the ambulance drivers but they would not listen to him......finally some people came to help Tucker....they translated for him to the ambulance drivers....and the driver rolled up his window and turned away from them. The people that translated said he could call a number for a different ambulance. Tucker was stunned that they would not help him. As I was talking to Tucker on the phone the injured man stood up and stumbled away. When Tucker got back to the car he was soaking wet and in shock. He said....."Mom, if that had been you...they would not have helped me." We both felt sick the rest of the day.....Tucker said he was happy to be going home......

Later that night Tucker and Abi went to dinner with some of Tucker's work friends.....they said that in this culture.....if you help someone....you are responsible for their medical bills. That is why no one helped. I have been trying to process this and justify it as a cultural thing. So far it is not working for me. I just can't grasping this concept. There is no cost in helping someone out of the road....there is no cost in offering a cloth to stop the bleeding...there is no cost in kindness. I even tried to put it in terms that I can relate to....for instance.....in the US....if we witnessed an accident.....and knew that we would be responsible for the ambulance and all hospital bills for that person....would we make the call? I like to think so.....but maybe we would think twice before making the call??? Maybe we would pretend that we didn't see what happened.....maybe we would do nothing....

I do know that it is a lonely and scary feeling to think that in an emergency situation.....it is most likely.....no one will help you.