This morning I made my weekly trip to Wal-mart. I had made my list and only needed a few things since I had braved the throng after I got back on Tuesday. I have never been to Wal-mart on Sunday here because I prefer to go on Saturday. Anyway, I was going along the aisles as I usually do, minding my own business, when a strange man came up to me in the “sugar aisle”. I don’t know what else is on this aisle really, because I just get sugar at the end of it. This is not completely out of the ordinary. Especially after my trip to Banna, I am now very accustomed to people coming up and trying to talk to me. However, they usually get the point after I say, “Ting bu dong” a couple of times (it means I don’t understand).
This man was particularly persistent, however. Since I said that I couldn’t understand what he said, he wrote out whatever it was he was trying to say to me. I guess he figured that I might be dumb and not understand, but at least I was literate. (This also happened the first time I went to the footwash.) I figured that he would leave me alone after I left the aisle, but he kept on following me. I stopped and tried to tell him again that I couldn’t understand him because I don’t speak the language. Persistent Pedro just kept right on like a shadow to the milk and the frozen chicken. There, he professed that he loved me. I was starting to get irritated because I just wanted to shop in peace and I was also getting nervous not knowing what this man wanted from me. I hurried on to the checkout counter thinking that he would get the hint, but boy was I wrong. Instead of leaving me alone, he pulled out a $100 (RMB) to pay for my groceries! I pushed him away and told him no thank you. At this point, I was practically running out of the store to get away from him, but Persistent Pedro was running right along after me.
I decided that it was not a good idea to leave Wal-mart with my would-be suitor in tow. I stopped at the customer service desk to ask for someone who could speak English to please ask the man to leave me alone. While the lady was calling for a manager or someone, my friends from S.C. came by. I hadn’t seen them, but they had seen me. I explained the situation to them and J called our friend Jenny who is a cop. He explained to her the situation and said for her to tell the man to leave me alone and that she was a cop. Anyway, by this point three workers had arrived and were asking what was going on. We finally got it sorted out and I left with my friends and the man stayed behind.
What a crazy trip! I just wanted to get my PB and milk…who says Sundays are boring?
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