A Fight at a Bus Stop

I was extremely angry. Before I realized it, I kicked his butt that was still stuck between the bus doors.

By Guo Hui-zhen

A few days ago I read a Chinese newspaper. And a news headline caught my attention: an eight-year-old girl was run over by a bus when she was trying to fight the crowd to get on the bus to school. I felt really bad. I recalled how I used to fight the crowd at the bus stop in Beijing.

When I was seventeen, I went to college in Beijing, trying to stay away from my parents. My parents were very old-fashioned and they used to have a very tight control of me. But they couldn't do anything to me once I was away from home. I really enjoyed my life of freedom. My favorite hobby was to wander around. Sometimes I took the bus to town and walked on small streets, watching old men waving their fans, old ladies arguing with each other, and young people running BBQ parties.

Beijing buses were normally very crowded. To say a bus was like a can of sardines is probably an understatement. When a bus was full, people always pressed harder so more people can get on the bus.

One day I was waiting for bus near the zoo. It was a major bus station with a huge crowd. When the bus approached the station, the whole crowd rushed forward. I grew up in this land and I was used to this mess. I was pretty good at fighting the crowd too. I wouldn't have survived if I were not. The bus was more than full. At this time I was very close to the bus door and I could become the last person for this busload. As I was extending my hand trying to hold the door handle, somebody behind me pulled me down and pushed me aside. It was a mid-aged man. He passed over me, took my spot and managed to get on the bus. He appeared very innocent while he did all that. I was extremely angry. Before I realized it, I kicked his butt that was still stuck between the bus doors. The kick was so hard that it actually helped closing the bus door. As the bus was driving away, I heard the man cursing like crazy.

I stood at the bus stop, continuing to wait for the next bus. I was very happy because I had my revenge. If I hadn't kicked him, I would have had to spend the next thirty minutes in extreme anger while waiting for the next bus.

At that time I did not know the Lord. I did not know God existed and He became flesh in this world. The innkeeper kept Him out of the inn so He had to lie in the manger. There he lay without anger. His beloved disciples abandoned Him and denied Him, but He simply looked on without anger. Soldiers humiliated Him and beat Him and crucified Him, but He was full of forgiveness and still without anger. Jesus Christ demonstrated the example of love with His short life. He also asked us to love each other, just like He loved us. He said: "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic." (Luke 6:28-29)

I was only seventeen and I didn't know all these. I only had very simple love and hate. That guy pushed my shoulder and I simply responded by kicking his butt. The guy took my seat and I simply responded by giving him a hard time. But isn't this exactly the kind of unreasonable human collision that resulted in the death of the eight-year-old girl? God must have been very sad when He saw me doing this. Perhaps from that moment on, He left the ninety-nine sheep in the open country and came to look for me and call for me.

As I did the wicked thing and felt pretty good about myself, I suddenly realized a male student staring at me with astonishment. He was the head of my class in school. Suddenly I became ashamed of myself. I would have jumped in a hole right away if there had been one. Indeed in my class there were quite a few female students that were extremely rude. But I was definitely not one of them. I was the youngest in class and I enjoyed a very positive image of a southern girl, quiet and soft. I had never expected to expose my true self in front of a male classmate of mine. What was worse was that this male classmate later became my husband, who still laughs at me for my stupidity to date.

The author came from Jiangxi Province. She graduated from the Economics Department, Beijing University. Now she lives in Vancouver, Canada.