Never mind. Definitely same city
So as I have been going about Shenzhen in a veil of wonder over the gulf of difference between the worlds that co-habit this city, I was jarred back into reality. We were, again, in the MixC mall, in clear view of the Chanel make-up counter, when a grandmother holding her year-old grandson decided it was time for him to go to the bathroom. Right there. On the floor. In front of Chanel.
I've seen this a bajillion times in the streets in China and it hasn't phased me in over a year. Diapers are not common here, but split-open pants are. When the child indicates a need to void, the adult holds them out in front of them in a way that allows this to happen through the opening in their pants wherever, whenever. The first time I saw this I thought someone was swinging their baby, until I had to watch out for the mess. On the rare occasions I have seen this happen at the mall, I always see the adult at least seek out a garbage can or a plant. This was the first time I had seen someone act in the mall as if it were the the street.
This is definitely one of those things that I never let on to a Chinese person I think their way is gross. First of all, they of course think our method with diapers for anyone older than a newborn is gross. And secondly, as my one Chinese-American friends pointed out to me, a lot of Chinese people here already have an inferiority complex when the compare themselves to foreigners.
However, as I was trying to finish my iced mocha, I did move quickly away from the business happening in front of Chanel. But I was reminded that despite the occasional impression that we aren't in China anymore, we are. We most definitely are.
I've seen this a bajillion times in the streets in China and it hasn't phased me in over a year. Diapers are not common here, but split-open pants are. When the child indicates a need to void, the adult holds them out in front of them in a way that allows this to happen through the opening in their pants wherever, whenever. The first time I saw this I thought someone was swinging their baby, until I had to watch out for the mess. On the rare occasions I have seen this happen at the mall, I always see the adult at least seek out a garbage can or a plant. This was the first time I had seen someone act in the mall as if it were the the street.
This is definitely one of those things that I never let on to a Chinese person I think their way is gross. First of all, they of course think our method with diapers for anyone older than a newborn is gross. And secondly, as my one Chinese-American friends pointed out to me, a lot of Chinese people here already have an inferiority complex when the compare themselves to foreigners.
However, as I was trying to finish my iced mocha, I did move quickly away from the business happening in front of Chanel. But I was reminded that despite the occasional impression that we aren't in China anymore, we are. We most definitely are.
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