Crisis In Suzhou: Downgrading To Yellow

Well, I think we're almost out of the woods folks. Though still not tip-top, Maggie's back to her energetic self and eager to get out of the damn hospital. With Day Four behind us now, we're hoping that the doctor will allow her to come home tomorrow.

These last few days have blurred together like the letters of the last line on an eye chart. I had to count three times how many days I've been doing this back and forth to the hospital bit. It, admittedly, was not the funnest way to spend my days off, but I'm sure Maggie's thinking the same. Actually she's more concerned about having a job at all, as she might lose it for being off so long (she'll be resting at home for about another week or so).

A lot like when you continuously hear love songs that "speak to you" after breaking up with someone, I am in this weird dimension where I continually run into stories about Chinese hospitals. In particular, the Duck cued me to the story about riots in Sichuan because a boy died at a hospital after swallowing pesticide in a pop bottle. The rioters seem to think that the doctors stood there while the boy died because his grandfather couldn't provide the hospital fees. A more likely version is that the boy died because he drank pesticide despite the help of doctors, and the grandfather couldn't provide the money for those fees.

I say "more likely", but really it's hard to say. In this country, both are quite probable.

I also ran across the rather harrowing tale from DB's blog, Crouching Tiger – Ambling Sheep, about his friend/colleague that was hit by a bus. Now, I thought having to decide if Maggie would stay at a cheap hospital or go to a deluxe laowai one was tough – having to decide if they should cut open a buddy's skull… now that's a rough China day.

Well, I wish I had more energy to post something insightful, but to be honest… I'm exhausted.

7 Responses

  1. Hey Ryan! So glad to hear that Maggie is doing better. We spent a long weekend in Vegas to see the Rolling Stones so I hadn’t read for several days. Who knew I would miss all this. Good luck with everything, and I hope she makes a speedy recovery!

  2. Since you were in Suzhou recently, I would like to ask you a question.

    My company is offereing to send me to Suzhou for 3 months. What has not been decided is
    what day allowance will be provide. Question, how much would a family of 4 require to live well in Suzhou? Any guess?

    thank you,

  3. I’ve got an Amazon gift certificate burning holes in my pocket,
    and I want to get the most bang for my buck.

    Enter the Secret Amazon Web Pages:

    http://tinyurl.com/38sojf

    This is where you’re going to find the “latest sales, rebates, and limited-time offers” from
    Amazon, and you can score some pretty deep discounts if you’re a savvy shopper.

    Next, there’s the special Sale link. This is open every Friday, and ONLY on Fridays.

    You can find the same good discounts here as you would in hidden Deals, although some
    Fridays you can really get lucky and make off like an Amazon bandit – I’ve seen discounts
    there as low as 75% off sticker price.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*