IN THE ABSENCE OF CULTURE:

A Chinese Revolt on a Plane (Eric Jackson, Jun. 16 2011, Forbes)

We all read our papers. We listened to our iPods. Some guy behind me kept getting calls on his phone to which Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” ringtone would play.

A couple of updates from the captain came every 45 minutes or so, with no news. Suddenly, at the 3 hour mark of the delay, people started going batty on this plane. Five people at the back stood up and started shouting at the flight attendants. Then 7 people stood up in the mid-section of the plane to do the same.

I don’t speak Mandarin, so I couldn’t understand what they were upset about. But my colleagues traveling with me helped translate.

One guy shouted: “Why would you people be so stupid to board us on the plane when you knew there was going to be this delay?”

Another: “Yes. This is crazy. You always do this to us on flights. You never planned on leaving on time anyway. Why didn’t you let us stay in the terminal?”

Then, one guy started screaming: “You lie. You lie. You lie.” He kept repeating himself for 10 minutes.

A new guy about 5 rows ahead on me in the window seat inexplicably started pounding his fist on the cabin wall. He didn’t say anything. He just kept beating on the plane to display his anger.

One old man than shoved an older flight attendant and other flight attendants started rushing to her assistance. The plane then jerked forward and started driving around the runway with no warning for a good 5 minutes. No one was in their seats with their seat belts for that time. We finally took off 5 minutes later and the anger dissipated as quickly as it came.

I asked my Chinese friends how to make sense of it. Back in the US, I think I’ve sat on flights out on the runway for a good 5 hours and no one except the crying babies says boo. They told me that these kinds out public outbursts are pretty common in China. They thought maybe some of the agitated people were smokers having a nic fit. But even they calmed down as soon as the plane took off.

My friends shrugged their shoulders: “This kind of stuff happens all the time here.” I was so taken aback I pulled out my iPhone to try and video the events. See below for what I captured before a flight attendant grabbed my phone out of my hands and turned it off.

The whole episode left me with a sobering thought: God help the Chinese authorities if these folks ever got really upset about food prices or jobs or providing for their families. If provoked, the Chinese would be up in arms about 50 times sooner than any American. When you hear about the Chinese government wanting to ensure there is “social stability” or “social harmony,” what they’re really talking about is keeping these folks that were on my Guangzhou flight subdued and happy.

No one stays bought.

Posted by oj at June 17, 2011 5:42 AM
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