A few days ago, a student called me in a panic. He had lost his wallet, but a man contacted him and said that he found it. They agreed to meet near the main campus of our university, but when the student arrived, the man demanded 100 yuan (about 15 USD) to return the wallet. 100 yuan isn't a fortune, but to the majority of cash-strapped students, it's enough to buy them meals in the dining hall for a week. The money that had been inside of it was gone, but all the cards were there.
The student didn't have 100 yuan on him, and he couldn't go to the bank because his cards were in the wallet. He called me and asked if I would help him. I am the only person whom he knew that lived nearby and that had the means to get money to him quickly. Anyone with a heart would have said yes. I agreed to meet him at the main gate.
I quickly got ready and then called a few boys to go with me. I didn't know anything about the man who found the wallet. What if he was big and looking for trouble? What if he demanded more money once he saw me? What if he had a violent personality? I was hoping that the five strong guys who went with me would make the man lose confidence in his bold and shameful request. I gave brief thought to going to the police station, but there was (and is) little to no faith in their sense of justice.
When we arrived, I was surprised to see that the man was well into his 50s or 60s and was quite short and small-framed. I could have folded him up like a pretzel. He wore a white baseball cap, sunglasses and was nicely dressed. He wouldn't hand over the wallet until he had his promised 100, but I was shocked that he never felt any shame or guilt in demanding money for returning something that was never rightfully his. His behavior was an awful thing to behold. He is likely someone's father and grandfather, and he should be the one setting the example. Instead, he was a representative of greed and dishonesty, and those of us there had good reason to suspect that he was the one who took the original money out of the wallet. Why else would someone take the cash but leave credit cards?
I repeated over and over that he was stealing, not only from my student but from me, as well. My words fell on his deaf ears. He never showed any regret or humility. My student was near tears. His shock over seeing me arrive with an entourage of young men quickly turned to embarrassment. He wanted to end things quietly. I was incapable of doing so but had to control myself against saying or doing anything that might unharness my temper.
I looked at my watch. Time was running out and I couldn't be late to my afternoon class, nor did I want to cause the boys with me to miss what little lunch time remained. Reluctantly, I handed the man the 100 yuan that he had demanded. He walked away. I was furious that someone – anyone – would do that to a fellow countryman, especially a student. His single act insulted every person who works hard and honestly to support themselves and their families.
One of the boys who went with me used his cellphone to take photos. I'm going to ask the owner of the wallet if he will consider filing a report with the police station so that they have the man's face in the database. I also posted the story on a Chinese blog that's popular among students here. It's generated a good deal of discussion and has received about 200 views. Here are some comments:
2011-05-27 21:32
China is a place where a great number of people lacks basic sense of ethics.
2011-05-27 21:37
I think people in our age are doing much better, the result will change with compulsory education going on in China. Knowledge can change a person. When it's spread widely enough, it can change a nation.
2011-05-27 21:58
That man sucks...
2011-05-27 22:02
It‘s a very special country where strange things happen.Lucky for you your Chinese is poor, or else you will even not believe your eyes when reading local newspapers.
2011-05-27 22:08
The moral bottom line have lost in China for loss of faith.Lots of chinese do not fear any thing. the only thing they pursue is money because they believe that the only thing exisiting in the universe is substance.
2011-05-27 22:24
I find that more and more students around me have been aware of the problem.They feel apprehensive and try to get out of the dificulty.thus,I think it's going to get better .
2011-05-27 22:26
I believe that problem has a solution, that is to...get away initiatively from those dregs like the guy in your article above.
2011-05-27 22:27
There is always people behaving "differently" from the majority, or most people -- I call this kinda "diversity"... this could not be eradicated. We can condemn those bad guys, but at the same time we should not stay on the level of just complaining or appealing to humanity, which can only make us confused. To deal with such baddies, we should resort to laws!
2011-05-27 22:40
Which brought to my mind of a debate we had back in junior high school on whether award should be encouraged on behaviors like returning a piece of missing property to its original owner. This is simply disgusting.
2011-05-27 23:44
Right, there comes the part that we people have become so used to this kinda thing, trivial as it is.
2011-05-28 11:20
What a shameful man he is!But let's believe that this kind of phenomenon only happens occasionaly.Kind-hareted people take the most part.OK?
