During my year in Shanghai, I had accumulated a decent
amount of change because I just never got used to the idea of using of change
to buy stuff. All of my change was
collected in a cut in half water bottle.
When I left, I think I had maybe 100RMB in change in that bottle and
with no exchange it or pack it in my bag I elected to leave it in my room,
hoping that whoever took possession of the change would put it to good
use. Little did I know that this was going
to happen within the hour.
The man who came up with me to check my apartment for
damages must have felt extremely lucky once he saw the large amount of things
that my roommates and I were leaving behind.
He entered my room and started pointing at various items, asking me if I
was sure about leaving it behind. When I
said yes to my bottle of change and asked him if he wanted it, he said yes and
started grabbing large handfuls of change and putting it in his pocket. After a few handfuls, I told him that he
could take the whole thing, bottle and all but he refused and told me that it
would look bad. I could not help but
smile as I walked out of the room and let him finish stuffing his pockets with
change.
Not quite sure how the man thought walking around jingling
on each step was going to keep him from losing face. He even took a pair of shoes as well and hid
those in the stairwell before the elevator came up, presumably so that he could
get them later when nobody was looking.
So twas on my last day in China that I was taught through
example that life is all about face.
