Pedestrian Mall is Deserted

Arrived in Shanghai at midnight.  Once again the faculty housing I’d booked was not ready.  I’d written a few weeks back.  I’d called earlier in the day.  All had been confirmed.  I arrived at 12:40AM and . . . “Sir, we don’t have a reservation for you until July.”  I suppose I was lucky.  They found me a room.  I just had to pay for it.  The last time this happened they had no rooms and I had to call Starwood.

Shanghai wasn’t too warm.  Visited my local Family Mart for a banana on the walk over to campus.  How much do they cost again?  It’s a dumb number like 2.4 yuan, per, so you wind up with useless change every time.  I generally put the three yuan down and tell them to keep the change.  This probably means a hassle for the staff who wind up with an imbalanced account at the end of their shift.  To date, no one has complained.  “There’s too much money?  I think I see a way out of this.”  Today though, the line as too damn long and I figured I could make it through the day without my mushy potassium.

Starbucks only had one guy there in front of me.  Double espresso, and an orange juice to start things out with.  The latter’s in my gut after a few gulps.  Eyeing the coffee production my double shot is up quickly.  It doesn’t matter that I’d asked to have it without a lid, he fastens one on robotically and I immediately remove it and toss it in the trash.  The cup itself follows shortly into the bin after two quick swallows.  I find myself wondering why it is that the drink, which was presumably made with at or near boiling water, mere seconds ago, isn’t more scalding to my mouth.

Oddly, downtown Puxi seems almost quiet this morning.  What time is it?  It’s 7:30AM.  There should be people bustling all about.  There’s only a scooter or two tearing along as the light changes.  The Nanjing Road pedestrian mall is deserted.  Only a person or two is descending from the subway stairs as I turn to head east.  I’m unnerved for a while, wondering if it’s a holiday, wondering if I’ve calculated something incorrectly.  Then there are other things to think about.

Thursday, 05/25/17