The Fragile Folk

Bill Brown   ...  Xiamen University

"What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider's web." Job 8:14 他所仰赖的必折断，他所倚靠的是蜘蛛网。约伯记8:14

Last week a gate guard stopped an overloaded garbage truck that was spewing trash onto the street.  The driver got out, looked at the mess, and then simply drove off.  I've seen this before, so this time I decided to do something about it.  I followed him to his destination and photographed the truck, the license plate, and for good measure the driver as well. 

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"I'm writing to the Mayor's Hotline," I said.  "You're supposed to pick the trash up, not redistribute it!"  When he said he did not know there was a problem, I said, "Nonsense!  I saw you get out and look at it, and then drive off!"

He shrugged and said, "I was going to have my wife and daughter sweep it up later."

I drove back home but just as I was parking the car, I remembered Scott White's comments a few years earlier about a bad waiter.  "These people lead such fragile lives," he said.  "Just one wrong look or cross word from a customer can cost them their job, and maybe ruin their lives.  We need to be careful with them, because we've no idea what they're going through."

As I thought about these "fragile folk," my anger changed to remorse.  The problem is not just the workers but the system--poorly designed trucks, too few workers, and too much litter thrown daily onto the lawns and streets by citizens who take our beautiful island home for granted.  I asked a student at Xiamen University why he threw trash on the ground just a few meters from a trash can, and he said, "We pay sweepers to pick it up!"

I certainly don't take our own area's sweeper for granted. Like many others, he works cheerfully from dawn to dusk, seven days a week, to keep our area spotlessly clean and neat.  And even though he works for low pay, he has dreams, and is saving his money, and has often proudly shared about his child in college.

I got back in my car and drove back to the Sanitation Center and apologized to the driver I had photographed.  I told him that I'd still write to the mayor's hotline, but not use the photograph, or mention specific places or people, but just the general problem.  And then I thanked him for working so hard to help keep our beautiful island clean, and said that I hoped we Xiamenese could work harder to make his job easier by not littering.

The man was surprised, and mumbled shyly, "I just do my job."But it is not just his job, but his life--and in my anger and pride I could have jeopardized it.

These people are fragile indeed--but so are the rest of us.  None of us, from the Mayor on down, are so indispensable that someone higher up the ladder could not cause us grief. 

Next time I see a problem, I won't ignore it, but I'll be careful to attack the problem and not the person, because lives are fragile--theirs as well as mine.

Related Blog: Judging Without Eyes and Ears
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