Everyone who lives in Taiwan and is not Taiwanese is the object of low-grade, usually non-violent racism on a daily basis. 85 per cent of the time, it works out in our favor, like being able to clear a whole lane in the swimming pool just by getting into the water, or being waved through the police road block because nobody wants to deal with you. Every now and then though, it kind of sucks. Like this morning, at around 10 AM, while my wife and I were sleeping, somebody threw a beer can which almost hit an old guy on the head. By 10:05 we were awoken by an angry mob gathered outside our bedroom window, and by 10:07 it was loudly and unanimously proclaimed that I was the guilty party. (I am the only foreigner living within a 2 km radius, so obviously it was me.) There was a general consensus that I was a bad man, and there was much uproar. I told my wife we were going to have to go out and confront them, lest the reputation spread and our kind landlady be informed of my delinquent ways. Before we had time to put on our clothes and brush our teeth to confront the mob and plead my innocence, our landlady arrived. The diplomacy that followed took the better part of two hours, and I still get angry glares wherever I go. If I can throw a can of beer to almost hit an old man in the head while Im lying in bed, perhaps I missed my calling as a baseball pitcher.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Feb 2014 05:40:54 +0000
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