Disturbed Lunch

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I have wonderful lunch with my friend, I intentionally keep him/her anonymous about our conversation. There are something interesting during the chat.

There is Another Way of Media Control

During the conversation, he mentioned these days, some people (maybe from “Culture Auditing Organization”) arrived at his company. There are many of them. Since my friend is running website related with video, the guys asked him to put Tibet related news to the top position. It is for sure that the related news needs to be the same as the official news in China.

I heard of many times of people asking webmasters to take content down, and the occasion to put on something is rare. For portals and important websites, it happens all the time, and everyone act with the orchestration of the big boss, but for a relatively small website, this time is unusual.

Well. I love my country, and just because of it, I want a better future for the country, and this can be hardly archived with tightened freedom of information.

Disclaimer: as I always stated in many of my post, I can only guarantee the fact that I heard the message, but I never guarantee that what I heard (either from my friends, or from newspaper, TV) is true.

Disruption of the Lunch

A small incident happens during my lunch today. A big and old guy were having meal next to us with his family. For some reason, he started to argue with the waiter. From what I heard over the table, it seems he is using a coupon to pay the meal, while the waiter claimed it is fake.

Then the guy start to shout out loud to the whole audience in the restaurant, and finally stand up to shout to everyone to get some support from his “audience”. It seemed he was delivering a speech. He is very annoying to me that we cannot continue our conversation.

I was thinking about what is happening in London and Paris these days, and I suddenly found these scenes are pretty similar. I don’t know whether he is right or wrong. Maybe he is right, and he holds the true coupon, but if I don’t care, why he has to disturb the peace of the restaurant?

I don’t know why, but when he came to our table and started to talk to me something: “How can the restaurant treats me like this…”, I said, “calm down. Get back to your seat, and keep quiet. Don’t disturb the so many people”.

They guy was shocked, and he obviously didn’t expect I am on the side of the restaurant (I assume he must be thinking so, while I am on neither side yet). He started to argue with me about the fact he is holding a true coupon. I said: “I am not interested, but you have disturbed my lunch”. The guy was really angry this time.

I just ignore what happened next. In short, finally, I dialed 110 (Police Number) with my mobile phone, and policeman came in 3 minutes (pretty efficient, I would say. Thanks). This is the third time I called a police in Shanghai. The last time was when Goudaner Scratched by Drunk Driver (note: Goudaner is my car).

The policeman just patiently listened to that guy’s complain, and asked him to handle things peacefully, and everyone was dismissed. I am not satisfied with the final result, but I didn’t ask for more.

This is very true story of today. I don’t know the reason I reacted so aggressively this time – typically I just sit there and say nothing. It may be due to the recent thoughts about the violence in protests during the Torch Relay. I do worry that if either the Pro-Tibet protester or the pro-China side of the protester started violence first, that can be a huge disaster in the history of Olympic.

My point is, it is OK to insist on what you believe is true, but don’t ruin other people’s lunch.

13 thoughts on “Disturbed Lunch”

  1. Jianshuo, I agree with part of your point. But I think as a Chinese, we cannot just sit and see something wrong to our country. We need to beat back and refute the wrong even dummy point.

  2. Two scenes are NOT similar. At lease, they (ZD) also care, they are evolved. Or they (French) do not care, just want some fun, want to express their fashionableness over another country’s grief. We hope we can express our feeling peacefully, but it turns out, like in France, our torch had been extinguished THREE TIMES! I am sorry, we can not do it cool, before we are not minorities, it is the only way make the majority of them listen.

  3. My sympathy you had a distrubed lunch.

    I am a businessman and I always believe in “give them what they want and they’ll come back for more”, if the restaurant management can exercise a little skill of persuaion, I am sure the distrubation shall never extented to the rest of the guest. Even the coupon was a counterfeit, the restaurant can regard it as an advertisment and I sure there are many more coupon in circulation which will never be redeemed.

    This is a break down of human relationship and people are having hard time to understand or trust each others.

    There is a saying “when there is smoke, there is fire!”, now smoke is everywhere, are someone try to put out the fire?

    Does anybody know how to use wisdom to solve the problem?

  4. The point is, do you have an OPINION or not

    YOUR OPINION.

    Of course it’s OK you don’t have one

    you had your lunch , and it’s your blog, or bridge

    and bridge can’t talk

    Another way of media control? how mellow

    and you added “i love my country” before you talked about it

    and THIS creeps me out

    What’s the relations between them anyway??? huh???

    ‘the more i know, the more likely i won’t love my country?’

    you know what

    i’m not believing more and more things i used to believe

    because i know i used to get a “controlled” media or information

    or ‘another way’ of that , by our government

    and that cound lead to patriotism or not?

    and i can’t open this Youtube link again!!!

    and i love my country!!!

    if i can’t open this link tomorrow, i still love my country!

    if i can, of course i still love my country!!!

    BUT WILL YOU BELIEVE ME, MR. WANG???

    i hope i didn’t ruin your lunch

    or supper

    or breakfast

  5. Dihua, the Olympic flame came to Beijing already 2 days after ignition in Greece. By airplane. High ranking chinese guys received it. It was in western tv.

    So, it doesn´t matter if the torch is extinguished :-)

    The relay is just a secondary show.

    THE FLAME IS ALREADY IN BEIJING

  6. Dear Gunjan,

    I AM TAKING IT VERY PERSONALLY THAT YOU ARE THROWING ACCUSATIONS OF ME BEING A RACIST. MAN, WHICH PART OF ANY POST DID I EVER EXHIBIT RACIAL SUPERIORITY OR CHINESE INFERIORITY? YOU HAVE BETTER PULL OUT GOOD SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCES TO PROVE SO. THIS PERSONAL ATTACK IS SO UNCALLED FOR. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF – FOR BEING SUCH A VENOM-SPITTER

    Dear Jianshuo,

    Can you please see to this and put an end to names calling and malicious distortion of my original comment. I seriously suspect that more than half of these people did not read my original post and were just building onto what they see from other user’s comments.

    I am pissed. Very pissed.

  7. There is a difference between the lunch and the protest.

    For the lunch to be listen by the restaurant, he can talk (not need to scream with them) and call the police to sort the true, or suit the restaurant to make justice happen, so he do not need to disturb people eating.

    For the Tibet and Human right in China, Chinese government do not want to discuss (Dalaali lamma has repeated dozen of time he do not seek independance, and ask to talk, what China refuse…. China promised to improve human right if he got the olympic but recently he make the repression stronger than before), and there is no pacific protestation possible in China (desmonstration are forbidden… in Tibet they still did it peacefully the 10th, 11th, 12th, got beaten by the police each time, then it turn as a violent riot the 13th), and there is no kind of Police or Justice to make the Human right respected in China, even if Chinese constitution say “The government protect and respect the human right”

    Thus many people believe that the only remining choice is to make noice, put pressure on the Chinese government.

    I personaly still oppose use the Olympic games to protest against the lack of human right in China, as most of Chinese people misunderstand them and see them as an attack to Chinese people when it is a way to try to improve the human right FOR the Chinese people. So I think as the consequence these demonstration increase the nationalism and the support to the Government…. the opposit of what is seek.

  9. I apologize if I would disturb you when you watch a sports event at Beijing Olympics. I believe a single person’s life is heavier than a billion people’s happiness. I would do everything possible to protect that very single person’s life at the cost of a billion people’s happiness, if they are unfortunately related (though you may not agree they are related).

  10. I THINGK NOW PEOPLE AROUND US HAVE NOT BELIEVED EACH OTHER, AND I HAVE BEEN AFFECTED ,IT IS NOT A GOOD THING .BUT TO AVOID TO BE HURT,WE MUST PROTECT US AND NOT TO SPEAK TO OTHERS WE DON’T KNOW.RIGHT?

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