or do i? (cough, cough)
Um yeah, well there’s that SARS bug going around over here. Just over a week ago, I asked one of my Shanghainese friends about it … and he had never heard of it. Ah yes, that good ol’ state-run media. Never let a worldwide epidemic get in the way of a story that promotes party politics.
But who will be laughing when the entire readership is dead? Well, no one, I would assume.
I’ve been following developments concerning this disease rather closely. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one doing so. All is strangely quiet on the SARS front here in Shanghai. I hope it stays that way … and not just because the government wants to put forth its false sense of “stability.”
So right now, I breathe freely. I do not own a surgical mask … yet. I’m still hoping that with all the other toxic crap we have floating in the air in this city, a lousy virus doesn’t stand a chance. (Friends and family don’t seem to side with me: they are already in the process of canceling their visits.)
And at least one person here is worried about me. My student Mark approached me after class recently, saying I should be careful — whatever that entails.
“But Mark,” I asked, “doesn’t that mean you should be careful, too?”
“No,” he said with a slight smile. “I think it’s easier for the whites to die.”
03.31.2003, 11:28 PM · Observations, Politics
2 Comments
Well, SARS is still spreading and I’m still going sans surgical mask. I think most everyone in Shanghai knows of the disease now, which scarily was not the case just two weeks ago. And most Shanghainese I talk to know about the lengths the Chinese government went to try to cover up this epidemic (hard to do when even some of the conspirators start to get sick). People felt angry — and helpless. It’s not like they can just stage a protest or fire off a letter to the editor of the friendly local state-run newspaper. In an effort to maintain a domestic image of stability and to avoid panic in the interior provinces, the Chinese government has managed to uphold its global image of senseless secrecy and created a reason to panic in middle China — because of early inaction, people are dying there now, too. Officially no one has died in Shanghai … officially. There are strong rumors to the contrary. I think of this SARS mess every time I squeeze myself into the backseat of a Shanghai taxi. It’s bright white and clean, nothing spoiling its smooth lines — not even a seat belt. It all looks really nice … until something goes wrong. And then you’re just left with a bloody mess.
In fashion news, the surgical mask appears to be the “in” accessory for 2003. More and more people are sporting the look in China’s fashion capital. I saw a nice Western couple with matching plaid ones the other day. How cute! There are many other couples, however, who don’t have the uniform down. Often the man will have a mask and the woman will not, or vice-versa. Hmmmm. Wonder if they kiss at the end of the date. My favorite look is the surgical mask dangling around the neck or, better yet, from one ear. I really see the logic behind that. (Before you run out and buy a surgical mask of your own, read this:http://slate.msn.com/id/2081235)