To get to the guy's place, we walked about 15 minutes downhill, that was no problem. He lived in a six story building, naturally on the top floor. He and I carried the desk awkwardly down the stairs, where we figured we could catch a cab home. Of course, we forgot what an intimidating presence a desk can be to the cabbies of Shanghai. So we faced a predicament: Susu and I could carry the desk uphill one mile through 4 traffic lights or we could try to bring it on the subway, which happened to be one stop from my apartment and located conveniently on the corner. Well that freaking desk must be lined with lead, because by the time we got to the corner it was a no-brainer. We were subwaying it.
Honestly, we didn't even get that many strange looks from people in the station or on the train, until we took it up the escalator - I tried to take a photo, but I was afraid Susu's glare might make my camera (or my head) explode, and it would be a shame to get brains on the newly-bought-but-used desk.
Even when we got in to street level, we realized that this satan's spawn of a desk would be difficult to lug even for one-and-a-half long blocks. So we took a break for a couple minutes.
Luckily, during this breather, we noticed that there was a construction site across the street. Construction workers carry heavy things all the time! And they don't their bodies, they use machines! So we convinced one of the guys to come over and help us. Being the kind man that he was, he didn't want much in return... only Susu's heart.
Actually we only had to pay him 5¥ plus some plastic bottles had saved in my house for months (I don't like to throw out recyclables). Pretty good deal.
I'm thankful for people like him.
Happy Thanksgiving readers!
Stephen "Scuba" Lauer
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