Little Angel

This little girl belongs to the shopkeepers behind. Cute? Yes. Except her pose is her way of signaling that she has to go poddy. (I say "poddy" instead of "to the restroom" consciously.)

On seeing that their little angel needs to go tinkle, the shopkeeper parents will come out in front of their shop, lift their child into a squatting position, and un-Velcro the ready-made Velcro split in her pants. Little Angel then commences to do her business right in front of her parents' business. Cute? No.

Now, I didn't study business--I studied English. And I did have a couple cultural studies courses where we were encouraged to view other cultures objectively. But some of what I seem to see in China is not only illogical but anti-logical. Sure, different cultures always seem strange to foreigners. But some parts of Chinese culture seem designed to offend anyone who's governed by common sense.

Let's take Little Angel for example. Wouldn't a shopkeeper naturally think, "My shop has a sidewalk in front of it. And my customers have to walk on that sidewalk to enter my shop. So maybe the best place for my kids to 'use the restroom' might be somewhere other than that sidewalk"? Yes. A shopkeeper anywhere else in the world, perhaps.