Friday, February 24, 2012
The Tea Bitches: Part I
Leaving the walls of the Forbidden City, I was approached by two women in their late thirties.
"Hello, Hello, You speak English, I speak Chinese. Ha, ha, we walk with you and practice our English."
When I am in Asia, this is a request that is made of me a hundred times over. I never say no but it is tiring to be interviewed by these people. And it is equally hard to be polite when they distract me from my original plans. So these two women, Jen and Tan, tagged along and asked me the same damn questions I am always asked. “You from America? You have husband? You have children? Where your family?"
After about a half hour, Jen, asked me if I wanted to join them for a cup of tea, "It very cold today. Tea hot, good for you. Good for you digestive system." It was cold and I was tired so I said yes and off we went to a nearby tea house. Jen seemed to know everyone in the place and they seemed to know her. We got a private room and Jen asked me what kind of tea I liked. I asked to look at a menu and reached for the one on the table but Jen grabbed the menu and abruptly said, "No, this not ours. This something different." She handed me a different menu and suggested that we try a variety of teas. So a waitress in her 20s can in and poured us six different cups of tea and all of them were great.
Then the waitress came in and mentioned something about my credit card and handed me the bill. I was a little confused but noticed that the second woman, Tan, looked away, almost in shame and then I knew something was up. I looked at the bill and it was over $300. Jen told me I could put this bill on my credit card. I protested and said that this was outrageous but then Jen pulled out that original menu and I saw that all of the prices were grossly inflated. The three of them worked in unison on this scheme and I realized I was not going to get out without paying some sort of hefty price. Then I heard the gurgle of the boiling tea pot. Jen was holding a pot of hot water, standing right beside me. I didn't think she would throw it on me. But then I also didn't think she would try to take me for my money. So I just angrily decided to cut my losses and get out unhurt. There were three of them. Now, they were all talking to each other only in Chinese and the waitress was growing impatient.
"I don't have my credit card with me. I don't have enough money to pay for this." I tell them without confidence. "That OK", Jen says, "we pay half and you pay half. You pay more because you college professor and we just lowly kindergarten teachers". So they forked over about a third of the cost. I paid the equivalent of about $200 and we quickly left after that. Once outside, Jen asked if there was anywhere I wanted to go next. I told her I had to leave right away; I wanted to get away from her. She seemed surprised, but said goodbye. I went back to my hotel, seething with anger. When I was in the midst of the confrontation at the tea house, I just thought that I had to get out unhurt. But now that I was away from them and safe, I was so angry with them and with myself. How did I let this situation get so out of hand? And when I reflect back, was I being cowardly or prudent?
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