Supermarket Scuffle

Living abroad forces a person to reevaluate their expectations and standards. What was once commonplace becomes rare and exciting. Conversely, what was once unthinkable can become common. China has certainly done this for me.

In my neighborhood, there is a grocery store called Wu Mart. It looks like a knockoff of Wal-Mart, albeit a darker, dingier knockoff. However, as a whole, it’s fine. It has meat, vegetables, fruit, milk, eggs, bread, etc.  It doesn’t have a lot of stuff I like but, hey, it’s China. Why would they? Anyway, I used to go to the grocery store and expect to find everything in one trip. Now, I go to the grocery store and expect to see a fight. Going to Wu-Mart is like going to a boxing match.

I don’t know what it is about Wu Mart that makes people violent. But, it does. During my nine months in China, I have seen several fist fights at Wu Mart. I’ve also seen dozens of screaming matches. Yesterday, I saw a crazy woman clutching a stranger’s leg, while sitting on the ground and sobbing. The police had to remove the woman to get her off of the random man.

I’ve thought long and hard about why Wu Mart makes people so angry. I can’t tell why. I’ve even observed a few fights to try and see what set the people off. I usually can’t tell because I don’t understand the language. Wu Mart doesn’t make me angry but, maybe it’s under some power lines or over a magnetic field that affects some people. I just don’t know what it is. Whatever it is, grocery shopping at Wu Mart is always an adventure.

I've got to train like Rocky...

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...to shop at Wu Mart!

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Rocky Photo Credit: http://billcoyne.net/cardio-alternatives/

Wu Mart Photo Credit: http://barfblog.com/tags/wu-mart/