Skip to content
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Instagram YouTube Facebook
Menu

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker.

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker. Doing all three in China
Instagram YouTube Facebook
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Hit enter to search or esc to close
Home  >  China • Chinese Culture  >  Westerners are Pussies
Posted inChina Chinese Culture

Westerners are Pussies

Posted By Becky Ances Posted on October 14, 2011
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

A few months ago another foreign teacher asked for our help. He had a big cabinet that he wanted moved from the basement of our building to his 2nd-floor apartment in the building next door. It was one of those huge, 80’s era ridiculously heavy office equipment type cabinets that was about 4-feet wide and 6-feet tall. “We’re gonna need some more help,” he said. “Two people can’t do it alone.”
I called up a few of my students and all together there were about 7 people to move it. 4 were actually carrying it, and the rest of us were “supervising.” Carrying it to the other building was hard, but do-able with each person carrying a different corner. Then they had to try to maneuver it through the narrow stairwell. “Lift it higher!” “Lift it lower!” “Lift up the one end.” “Turn this part on it’s side.” It took maybe 30 minutes and left everyone sweaty and panting.
So a few weeks ago when the same teacher announced he was moving apartments (to our building on the 5th floor) and he needed our help again. We groaned. We were happy to move his jars and clothes and little things, but the F&%#$g cabinet? No way. It was just too heavy. Luckily because the school asked him to move, they hired a few hands to move the furniture and it became their problem, not our. We suggested they bring trolleys and carts to make moving the cabinet easier.
But they didn’t. Two skinny local guys showed up to help him move and all they had was a banner they probably found in the trash after some event. (In China they like to hang long red banners with encouraging slogans at every event.) The guy wrapped the banner around the cabinet and himself, tied it off in the front, and just bent over and lifted the whole thing by himself.  He didn’t use his arms at all, just his back and shoulders. In that position he had no problem navigating the narrow stairwell and before you knew it, the cabinet was safety delivered to the 5th floor.

He was followed by a guy carrying a full sized fridge on his back in the same way. When we got a new fridge in America we had two big burly guys with special belts and ropes and a special system to remove our fridge. But not here, just a skinny middle-aged guy, a stolen banner and five flights of stairs.

If this happened in the west, they would have had special equipment, like a trolley or something with wheels, as well as specific rules for how it can be moved. Hell, when we moved it we whined and complained about how heavy and awkward it was. But not these guys. They were told to move the furniture so they just shut up and did it. Yep, it definitely made me feel like a pussy.

Tags: culture moving furniture
Previous Article My Commute
Next Article Tea Sets

Related Posts

“Do You Like Bread?”

I passed by a friendly woman whose family I buy fruit from and stopped for a minute to chat. She was standing in front of a cooler she had dragged out from her store a little down a side street and she was selling cold watermelon cut up into containers

Read More about “Do You Like Bread?”
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

100 Years of the CCP and All I Got was This Lousy Light Show

Okay, I click-baited you with that title. It wasn’t a lousy light show at all, it was quite spectacular but “…and all I got was this spectacular light show” isn’t how the t-shirt goes, so there you have it. So yeah, July 1st was the 100th anniversary of the founding

Read More about 100 Years of the CCP and All I Got was This Lousy Light Show
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

2 Comments

  1. Catherine
    October 14, 2011 at 11:02 am

    Lol. Our delivery guys in NH handled our couches the same way. But they were also foreign, though probably Western – from the Caribbean perhaps?

    Reply
  2. Becky
    October 15, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    So what are you saying? That I should change the title of this to Americans are pussies? 😉

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • The Five Books I Keep Returning To
  • “Do You Like Bread?”
  • 100 Years of the CCP and All I Got was This Lousy Light Show
  • I Wouldn’t Expect to Like This But…
  • This Meme is Stupid

Archives

Categories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Recent Posts

  • The Five Books I Keep Returning To Becky Ances July 30, 2021
  • “Do You Like Bread?” Becky Ances July 16, 2021
  • 100 Years of the CCP and All I Got was This Lousy Light Show Becky Ances July 6, 2021
  • Popular
  • Recent
  • The Swiss Family Robinson are a Bunch of Jerks December 11, 2009
  • Making it Official: My Chinese Boyfriend December 7, 2012
  • Good Chinese Wife Review and a Chance to Win a Free Book!! July 27, 2014
  • 10 Signs You've Lived in China a Long Time March 29, 2014
  • The Five Books I Keep Returning To July 30, 2021
  • “Do You Like Bread?” July 16, 2021
  • 100 Years of the CCP and All I Got was This Lousy Light Show July 6, 2021
  • I Wouldn’t Expect to Like This But… June 23, 2021

Subscribe Now to Our Newsletter, It’s Free!

Get the best content delivered straight into your inbox!

Facebook Twitter Google+

About

I’m an American who has been living in China for more than a decade! This is my blog where I muse about all things China. Please also check out my YouTube channel “Badminton Becky” and my other badminton blog at www.badmintonbecky.com

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • The Five Books I Keep Returning To July 30, 2021
  • “Do You Like Bread?” July 16, 2021
  • 100 Years of the CCP and All I Got was This Lousy Light Show July 6, 2021
© Copyright 2017. Theme by BloomPixel.