Runnin' Around

Throughout this semester I have frequently sent or received text messages and phone calls all revolving around one subject: water. Well not simply water, but running water. Due to massive construction on the road in front of our campus the water at my apartment has been sporadic. Now I readily recognize that there are hundreds of millions of people worldwide without adequate water resources, many of whose main daily worry is where and how to get water. This is not my worry at all, nor my complaint. I can always make the one minute bike ride to one of many corner stores on campus with lots of drinking water. 朱师傅, my “Culligan man” usually arrives with a fresh water jug within five minutes. And, if it comes down to it, I get paid enough to go to local spa to shower up if the water’s off for a few days (which has happened more than once)-I of course just kept it grungy.

My complaint is instead with the process that we mirthfully refer to as the ‘Chinese run-around.’ In the States, the modus operandi is that if the water’s going to be cut off, a day’s notice-if not more, will be given to all users. That happens about one third to one fourth of the time here. Back home, if the tap is dry, a simple call to the utilities provider will usually solve the problem, if not, one can be assured that a good explanation will soon come. That never happens here, or at least not to me. I can do without running water for a day or two, but not getting a proper explanation really, really grinds my gears.

To begin, the Chinese run around comes into effect. The Chinese bureaucratic chain is so long, that I think in general, people get too exasperated before they reach the top. There are the oft-mentioned examples of some high ranking leader visiting some village here or there, but just like the world around, that’s just public relations. To add to the long bureaucratic chain, when one complains, he usually gets involved in multiple chains of command. In order to save “face”, which is very important in Chinese (Asian) culture, no one ever takes responsibility. It is always someone else’s matter; one always needs to talk to someone else. Again, after running through multiple chains of command in multiple departments, exasperation usually cancels the complaint. As Jordan, another teacher astutely observed, it’s like filing an insurance complaint in the States (although maybe even that’s changing). On a personal level, Teddy, the assistant to the head of the international department, and my boss/advisor, is generally very helpful. He’s not overbearing like I hear many of his contemporaries are at other schools, and, he is very eager to do what he can to help us. The problem is that Teddy runs into the Chinese run-around himself quite often. Especially when fielding questions and complaints from us foreigners that most Chinese people have learned long ago to not mention. He has even complained to me that he too would like to get a meeting with the mayor of Changzhou to air some grievances. I want a sit down meeting with the mayor, because I have realized that he is the only person in the city capable of getting my water turned back on or giving me a warning before it’s cut off for the weekend.

Additionally, one of the most popular phrases in Chinese (and my least favorite) is 没办法 which is directly translated as “not, have not, none” “way, means, method”, but essentially means “nothing can be done.” Now, having a dad who is an engineer and loved to take things apart and show me how they worked as a kid and a mom who always told me the sky’s the only limit did not prepare me well for receiving “nothing can be done” very well. I of course, contend that although some decisions are hard, there is always a decision to be made, something to be done. Of course, something could be done here, that’s not the issue. The issue is that it won’t. That’s the problem with living in a country with an authoritarian government-there’s very little to be done. The way it is is the way it is, and the last time people tried to change it, things didn’t work out too well. Growing up in the Midwest, the concepts of responsibility and accountability hold great importance in my mind. Living in China has made me see how frustrating it can be when there is little to none of either. Getting the Chinese run-around is definitely one of the worst things about living here.