On the drive back from Los Angeles, somewhere along the 101 freeway between Santa Barbara and Pismo Beach, I was pulled over by a police officer for the first time in years. Like everyone else, I had slowed down when I caught sight of the cop in the lane next to me. I drove next to him for awhile, holding at 70 miles per hour, until I finally sped up a little and passed him. Almost immediately, I saw his lights flicker behind me and pulled over to the side of the road.
I couldn’t figure out why he stopped me, but guessed I was speeding earlier and he was just now getting me for it.
He walked over and I rolled down the window. “Was it your plan to annoy me? Because you certainly did a good job,” he said.
“No, officer, I wasn’t trying to annoy you. I was trying to avoid getting a ticket,” I replied.
He then explained that he was driving slowly enough so that I could pass, but instead I lingered in his blind spot, which annoyed him. He didn’t seem to realize that I might have been reluctant to pass him for fear of getting a speeding ticket, especially as we were cruising at 70 mph (speed limit, by the way, is 65).
He looked at me, and I said as sweetly as I could: “I’m sorry for driving poorly, officer”. He smiled and said, “See ya” and walked away. I drove off.
As relieved as I was that I didn’t get a ticket, I still felt a twinge of shame for not confronting the police officer about the unnecessary and stressful incident. As I drove on, I thought up lines I could have used, such as “Aren’t there drivers actually breaking traffic laws for you to go after?” or “Wow, it must be boring out here in the middle of nowhere”. Both lines would have undoubtedly triggered a ticket (at least) but a small part of me wished I had used them anyway.
Later, it dawned on me that in all of my encounters with police officers or other authority figures I’ve been meek and completely cooperative, even in situations that were completely unfair like the one I encountered driving home. Yet in China, whenever I’ve had a problem with an authority, I’ve often resorted to loud defiance rather than sweet obedience.
Why is this? Is it an insidious form of Orientalism, in which I subconsciously see the Chinese as being weak and effeminate and easy to dominate? Is it because I’m aware that in China I could pass off any unpleasant situation as a miscommunication? Is it that I innately have more respect for the police in the U.S., even when they do idiotic things like hassle innocent drivers? Perhaps I know that the Chinese characteristically do not react with violence and anger to provocations by foreigners. In any case, I still find my divergent reactions puzzling.
I’d dearly like to find out, for ideally I’d like to be consistent in my reactions to authority figures no matter which country I am in. If anything, I should be even more meek in China because it isn’t my home country and I would have less legal recourse in the event that something goes seriously wrong. In addition, I’ve generally been treated well by the Chinese authorities and have no reason to bear a grudge against them. Yet I still can’t figure it out.
Has anyone else gone through something similar? Comment away.
Comments 2
Matt,
You nailed it already, it is the first one (“I subconsciously see the Chinese as being weak and effeminate and easy to dominate”). It happened to many people. It is really because deep down we perceive ourselves superior to the Chinese (it might or might not be racial); because they are considered poorer, weaker, third-worldy. This is actually similar to how western colonists treated people they subjugated a century or two ago. The general attitude of the Chinese actually helps make it worse: They try so hard to court and accommodate foreigners (especially white people) as if the Chinese themselves were second-class citizens, so some foreigners in China (especially the expats) got used to the “I am your bitch” attitude and think this is how they should be dealing with the Chinese.
Posted 17 Jan 2008 at 4:23 am ¶If it’s cops were talking about, I have the same reaction to Chinese cops as New Zealand cops, and that is certainly not defiance. For customs and immigration its the same.
With other “authority” figures, it would depend on the situation. I did once bawl out a woman in the hospital in Tianjin that handles foreigners’ health checks because she refused to recognise the health certificate I’d brought from Beijing. I was sent to the director who knew that Beijing certificates have a super-fancy stamp that needs to be held at a certain angle to be seen. Problem solved- and there was no way in hell I was going to redo my health check in that filthy dump of an excuse for a hospital. I’ve stood over my waiban to make necessary repairs to my apartment’s water supply happen faster than “in a few days”. In cases like that I don’t think it is inappropriate to throw a bit of weight around, and I have seen my wife and other Chinese do similar things in similar situations. That’s not disrespect for Chinese people, that’s sticking up for yourself.
I’d certainly never try that on anybody with legal authority, like a cop or customs officer.
Posted 17 Jan 2008 at 10:42 am ¶Post a Comment