the people at the zoo

"They have pandas!" somebody exclaimed.

Our one hour bus ride to Suzhou turned into a two plus hour bus ride because our arrogant driver didn't know where he was going and refused to listen to anyone who might have known. When I say bus, I really mean a medium-sized van that was clearly built for tiny Asian people and not for anyone over 5'7". The air conditioning didn't really work and since Sylvan and I were sitting in the front, where there were no operable windows, we didn't have the luxury of fresh air-- or any air for that matter. Maybe we were lucky that we chose the front. Even though we were roasting, at least we weren't crammed up against the seat in front of us. Some of our classmates were less fortunate and once out of the bus, needed several minutes to regain feeling in their sleeping limbs.

After visiting the first site, we got back on the bus, hoping that the driver might be able to get us to our next destination. No luck. We drove around for 45 minutes only to reach a point beyond frustration and be dropped off a couple blocks from where we started. A lot of the sites we had wanted to visit were under construction so we decided to make the most of our situation and just enjoy what was around us. We found a zoo. "They have pandas!" somebody exclaimed. That was enough to convince our group that the zoo was a great idea.

It did seem like a good idea. I was positive that an Asian zoo would have a wide variety of interesting and exotic animals. The rusted monkey cage in front of us looked like a giant industrial-strength bird cage resting on the ground. As we got closer, I saw a crowd of Chinese people standing at the railing that wrapped around the cage, leaving about 3 feet between the humans and the monkeys. Three feet was not enough. The Chinese people were pointing and laughing because someone had given one of the monkeys a cigarette and the monkey was eating it. That kind of thing is hilarious if you like torturing helpless animals. Since I hadn't actually seen anyone give the cigarette to the monkey, I tried to convince myself that someone had dropped the cigarette and one of the monkeys had snatched it off the ground. I tried to convince myself that it was an accident. No one is that stupid or that cruel, right?

Wrong. Some guy pulled out another cigarette and taunted the poor little monkey. The guy didn't hand the cigarette to the monkey but a woman a few feet away gave the monkeys her zoo ticket. The monkeys faught over it and eventually started eating it. Everyone in our group was disgusted. We walked away from the troubling scene not quite knowing what to do with what we had just witnessed.

If you know me at all, you know that I am not a person to stand by and watch things happen. If I'm unhappy with a situation and think something should be done about it, I do something about it. It's hard being in a different country and not being able to communicate with people. If I had been in the US, I would have said something but knowing that the Chinese people would have no idea why I was shouting at them, I didn't think it was a good idea.

We walked toward more cages, which housed bigger monkeys. The sad monkeys sat against the bars of their cages staring blankly. A woman with an umbrella walked toward the cage. I watched her. She lifted her umbrella toward the cage. I continued to watch in disbelief. She actually poked the monkey with the end of her umbrella. I began to fill with rage. It's not a feeling I often experience but it is an intense one. My blood starts to boil, my skin turns green, and my clothes tear as my muscles swell. Wait, no, that's the incredible hulk. My blood really did start to boil... and blinded by rage I wasn't sure what to do. I said out loud "Yeah, poke the monkey. How would you like it if someone poked you." I said it mostly to myself as I assumed the woman spoke no English. She didn't seem to notice that I had said anything. I could have run over to her screaming in a language she wouldn't understand but decided that would be pointless. I decided to walk over to her, slowly, and poke her in the back or side with my finger then stare at her. That way she would know what it was like. I had made my decision. As I began to walk toward her, she walked away. Damn.

Still full of rage, I made my way to the glass cages and watched a leopard anxiously circle its pen. The pen was entirely too small for such a magnificent animal. The guy next to me began tapping the glass with his water bottle. The enormous cat hissed angrily. Again I began to fill with rage. I stared at the man and if looks could kill he would have been killed instantly. He began to hit the glass harder and I reached my breaking point. "Hey" I shouted at him knowing he wouldn't understand but hoping to get his attention. He didn't notice me so I moved closer to him and put my hand between him and the glass. "Bu! Bu. Bu." I said. Bu means No in Chinese. The man was a bit taken back, smiled, and laughed a little. He pointed to the "no touching the glass" sign and smiled. I pointed to it and said "Xie xie." which means thank you. He was probably wondering why the hell some little white girl was enforcing the Zoo rules but I didn't care. He walked away from the glass.

I wanted to run around as some kind of self-appointed rule enforcer or protector of animals and just yell at these incredibly inconsiderate, disrespectful people all day. Maybe it wouldn't help. Maybe I'd get kicked out. Maybe I would just be wasting my breath. I just couldn't believe that people, in this day and age, would treat animals so badly. I saw the caged animals. I saw the people torturing them and laughing. In my eyes, the people at the zoo were the real animals.