The Tea Bitches: Part II

I was up all night, so angry that I couldn't sleep.  So I decided that I would go to the police station in the morning and file a complaint.  I was not going to leave Beijing until some sort of justice had been served.

I was up, bright and early by 7AM.  It was till a little dark outside but I didn't care. I went down to the front desk and asked the staff member if she would call the police for me.

"No, I can’t" she tells me.

"Why not?"

“I don't know the number".

"Can't we look it up?"

 "I don't know how to do that"

"Well, we can look it up on the Internet," I suggested with a little tone.

"No, the Internet is broken for three days now."

"No it isn't. I used it last night and your system is on right now.  Can’t you look up the number for me?"  I am determined that she is going to help me.

"No, the police will do nothing about it.  It happens all the time.  Last week a lady lost $500.  Police can’t do anything because they didn't see it."

Finally, she relented and drew a map of where she thought the local police station is so I set out on my own to find the police.  But that was a wasted effort because I found nothing that remotely resembled a police station.  So I came back to my hotel in defeat but more determined that the staff woman was going to help me.

I implored her to help me but she was unmoving in her steadfast position that the police would do nothing.

"Get your manager," I demanded.

So she walked to the back room. When she returned, she told me that the manager was not going to come out because the police can do nothing.  Now I was furious.  In my loud voice, so that the manger could hear, I told her that she had a responsibility to help her guests and she should not he harboring criminals.   Then the manger appeared.  She said they had a night watchman who helped out the lady who lost the $500.  He wrote something on a piece of paper and told the woman to take it back to the shop and she got half of her money back.  The manager called the night watchman at home and he dictated something to her. She wrote it down, told me to go to the tea house right away and see if I could get some of my money back.  I asked her twice what was written on the note but both times, she just ignored my question.

So with note in hand, I marched off to the tea house with anger and determination.  As I opened the door I was greeted by a pleasant young woman and I immediately stepped in to my crazy mood.  I showed her the note and yelled that I demanded all of my money back.  She jumped in fear and I felt empowered.  She immediately called her boss and as she was talking to this woman, I was yelling in the background, "Tell her I am not leaving until I get my money."  I was immediately offered half of what I paid yesterday.  "No," I barked back loudly, “I am not leaving until I get all of it."

Just then he door opens up and in walks the waitress from yesterday.  She begins to greet me but then she realizes who I am.  Her coworkers call to her in Chinese to give her a heads up that a crazed lady is in their midst. She quickly throws out an offer for a 75% return on my money.

"No, I want it all.  I have already called the police and I called the US Embassy and I filed out a report on you."  That seemed to get her attention. "You no go to the police for this."

Then I noticed a police officer outside so I ran to get him.   He directed me to go to Tiananmen Square to get police help.  I came back in a police car and three police officers and I left with all of my money.