Wednesday 17th February, 2016                     2230

Even days mostly spent in a deserted place can throw up interesting ones.

I really pushed the corners of the envelope by staying up until six this morning. Ok I finished Hornblower and a lot more besides and considering I had intentions of eating in town, I had nothing to get up early for. It wasn’t far off one by the time I came up for air and the first thing that greeted me when I turned the phone on was a text message from John from the little school to please call him. Would I like to come to his “gathering dinner” tomorrow? Love to, I rarely eat much at these things and it always means a taxi back but it is an outing and I get as much pijou as I like. And sometimes some of the dishes are very nice and now if he spots that I like one which has been snaffled by everyone else, he often orders another platter of it.

Hot on the heels of that came another message from Anna. I knew she had arrived back in Chizhou yesterday so in the wee hours I had sent a message inviting her for dinner this evening with me in town. All sorted.

I put a load in the washing machine (now THAT I will miss if I leave) and waited an hour and a half before I could shower. The electricity supply was not so much a concern as the water pressure which today has been low. However when the laundry had finished and I was hanging it up on the balcony, who should I see outside but Mum. Limping but on four legs and blatantly not letting her injury get her down - she’s a tough old buzzard that one. I really should get a photo of her instead of just the babies she has had. Seeing her reminded me to boil her pork bones before I left, I had no idea when I would return and being able to simply just chuck it out when I got back was a good idea.

So Anna and I met up at five thirty at south gate and bussed to town. When she told me her boyfriend would be back tomorrow from Suzhou (which Suzhou I have no idea as there are two) at about midnight I asked her if she wanted to come to the school dinner. She did and so I asked John if it was ok and he agreed.

I finally remembered to buy ten disposable lighters when we got to town, the bakery wasn’t too packed (although no sodding doughnuts so I had to make do with croissants and a fruity pastry) and then we trotted off to the steakhouse for dinner. I had a steak, Anna had what; if I liked it; lamb ribs that looked lovely. She certainly enjoyed them. Supermarket for shopping and then home, except of course the uni-bound buses were packed so we cheated.

By this time it was after nine, which is quite late for China, and we settled into our seats on the empty return bus at the stop before the terminus. I think possibly three stops on when there were about ten souls aboard the bus stopped to let a woman on. Quite well dressed and at a guess I would say mid-forties. I am quite used to the Chinese being utterly glued to their mobile phones by now (a young woman was so engrossed in texting about 6 weeks ago in Nanjing that she walked into a canal/river and because she couldn’t swim she drowned, I watched the CCTV footage of her drowning) but this woman never took her eye off the phone for a second, climbing on and pausing only long enough to deposit her two coins in the payment slot. With one hand holding the phone and the other tapping the screen furiously, she was oblivious to everything.

Now these hybrid buses may start off using electric power but they do in fairness accelerate at a hell of a lick. The thinking person would ensure al least one hand was holding an upright or a strap. Not this woman. The  drivers do have a care for elderly/injured/infirm people as I am aware from when I was on crutches. They always waited until I was seated.

Hilariously, she ended ended up flat on her arse. Now get this - she proceeded to haul herself up by grabbing one of the fore and aft seats near the front (still playing with her bloody phone) and when the driver realised she had fallen and braked to stop, down she went again!

The driver helped her up and was given much abuse for his trouble. From the odd translation Anna was able to offer the woman was threatening to ring the bus company and have him sacked and calling him an idiot. I think I could have guessed what was being said anyway. The driver apparently kept apologising but the woman was having none of it.

Meanwhile of course, the bus was stationary. The Chinese famously not being complainers  until such time as something snaps inside, sat mute, watching. Unbeknown to me, Anna had looked at the time this occurred because she had to get home seeing as a housemate had forgotten their key.

The furore went on and on and on, all the while I was getting more and more angry myself. I asked Anna if any of the other passengers would say something to the woman so we could resume our journey and the reply was “No, of course, not, they are Chinese.” Telling her that I wasn’t Chinese, I proceeded to tell this woman who had merely only had her pride hurt to shut the hell up, sit down and let us carry on. Amazed at my effrontery, she turned to see who had the audacity to shout at her and of course saw a red-faced corpulent Englishman sitting at the rear of the bus. She started chopsing back at me and I cut her short, pulling my phone out and indicating how idiotic she was not to have stopped using the phone until she was seated and that it was her and not the driver’s fault.

I could feel Anna literally shrinking beside me but for God’s sake, it was now already eight minutes and we hadn’t moved. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the next bus after us had overtaken. At this point a Chinese man of about my years also chipped in, presumably emboldened by the fact that I would be blamed for everything anyway. Finally the bitch took her seat but right behind the driver so she could continue her diatribe. Were I he I would have chucked her off the bus after refunding her fare and if I ever saw her hailing my bus alone at a bus stop, drive straight on by. She delayed everyone by ten minutes.

From what Anna told me she then started arguing with the driver about the foreigner and the driver (not one I see often to be fair) apparently told her that the foreigner saw things more fairly than she (correct) and she then proceeded to accuse him of disrespecting Chinese people! This idiotic harridan finally got off three stops later once she had finished her tirade along with the gentleman who had also spoken  out. As he got off he gave me a broad grin but she alighted from the front door, no way was she going to come back my way! I swear she got off to wait for another 29 bus!

I joked to Anna that maybe she was the new dean of the foreign language department……..

So you see, a book COULD be written purely on experiences on public transport. and I thought it was going to be just another day.