Red Zebra Labs

I was in Suzhou, China this weekend, about an hour out of Shanghai. I was standing in line at the hostel waiting to check out when a trio of young guys came in. They were looking for a place to stay, not an easy task anywhere in or near Shanghai these days. One of the guys got in line and gave me a dirty look and said something to his friends in Hebrew. I didn’t catch everything he said (I can understand Hebrew OK if it’s spoken slowly), but he said something about Ha shmena, or the fat girl. There were no other women around, and the look he gave me put me into defensive mode.

I turned around and told him to watch his fucking mouth. He immediately got defensive. Then I said, in Hebrew “What, do you think other people here don’t understand Hebrew?” He mumbled something and went back to his friends. A few minutes later he came back and mumbled an apology. I had a few choice words that I was ready to say (like he’s only sorry I could understand what he said), but I figured a youth hostel wasn’t the best place for that. I thanked him, then turned away. He asked me, in Hebrew, where I learned the language. In school, when I was younger, I answered him, also in Hebrew.

Srsly, don’t say shitty things about other people in any language. You never know who’s listening.