I decided it was time to turn my attention to my feet after Karis wouldn't leave me alone the other day when I had my socks off, continually picking at some of the dried skin on my heels! (Lovely, I know!) I had obviously gone too long without a pedicure, and my feet were showing the wear and tear of China walking and biking, not to mention the cold, dry weather. I had my eye on a pumice stone I had seen hanging up behind the counter of one of our larger market grocery stores in our community, and was just waiting until my bag wasn't too filled to overflowing to purchase it and bring it home. Now, I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that pumice stones are not a normal fixture in most Chinese women's bathrooms. Part of my assmption comes from the fact that this store has had this one same pumice stone hanging up ever since we've been here--which is almost a full three months now! So they're not the most popular or well-known tool in these parts.
So I'm standing in line with my few grocery items, trying to hurry home to feed a hungry baby after class, when a very "sweet" Chinese older lady decided she should cut ahead of me in line. Now in China, this is not considered rude. On the contrary, it is actually proving yourself wise and crafty to see an opportunity and take advantage of it. I'm aware of this vast cultural difference, and on many days don't even mind it, but not this day. I was certain that I hadn't left an inappropriate amount of space in front of me, inviting this older woman to cut in, and I really didn't feel like waiting for one more person to check out before I did! So I did what is again, totally culturally appropriate, and used as much of my body as a wedge as I could to politely establish my position in line.
When I finally got up to the check out, having to move the older woman's groceries out of the way in order to get mine up to the register, I had to play a game of cherades with the cashier in order to show her what it was I wanted her to get for me (funny that "pumice stone" has not been one of my school vocab words yet, don't you think?). After pointing and grunting for almost a minute, I ended up with the pumice stone on the counter. Now by this point, the entire line of people (mostly women stopping by the store on their way home from work to grab stuff for dinner) was incredibly curious as to what the westerner was purchasing. So the line crumbled as the women crowded around to see what treasure I had discovered behind the counter! Several of the woman actually broke rank and pushed up next to me to touch the pumice stone and see what it felt like! Keep in mind, this whole time I am making my old cross country coach proud with the elbow slinging I had to exercise in order to keep Granny out of my spot in the check out line. Oh yes, she was still by my side, working her way into any nook or cranny I left open.
Now you might wonder if I was having much of a humble servant's heart, considering my witness as I used my backside to bump an old lady out of the way. And my answer is yes, it was at least considered! And I decided that at this point I too could become acculturated to China; that I was doing what was respected by the Chinese in working to keep my place in line! To be honest, I'm not sure if it was that or if my competitive juices were flowing, but regardless, I did win the event and made it through the checkout line in first place with pumice stone in hand. Oh, and my heels are much smoother today to prove it!
