The iPad

I’m going to share a true story. I still don’t know how to rationalize what happened. It doesn’t make sense. Maybe you’ll understand better than me.

I went to a city called Ya’an. This city is famous for its tea which is grown on the local mountain called Mengding Shan. Legend has it that Wu Lizhen, known as the father of tea, planted 7 tea trees in 53 B.C. “These trees have neither withered nor grown in over 2000 years,” says the sign next to the royal tea garden.

Grandpa and me in front of the royal tea garden.
Tea from this garden was given to emperors from the Tang to the Qing dynasties.

 Another family, a couple and their 8 year-old boy, accompanied us to Ya’an. The boy was attached to his iPad for the entire trip. The day we went to see Wu Lizhen’s house he complained so much about being separated from his iPad that he was left at the hotel with his mother so that he could play with it.

The next day we went to a famous gorge in Ya’an. It was beautiful, but like most tourist scenic spots in China had a hefty entry fee, one boardwalk path that runs through the park, and hundreds of other people.

Walking the boardwalk

We stopped at a little restaurant for lunch. My host grandma and grandpa had already been to the park many time and decided to sit it out yet they still met us for lunch. By the end of lunch, the little boy had decided that he didn’t want to carry the iPad anymore. He left it for the grandparents to take back in the car and we finished our tour through the park.

There were lots of waterfalls on the way back.

After being reunited with Grandma and Grandpa, the first thing the boy asked for was the iPad. They forgot it at the restaurant. They called the restaurant. I’m amazed that they could hear what the restaurant had to say over the royal fit that was raging just a few feet away. The iPad wasn’t there. They decided to return to the restaurant anyways.

It was a family restaurant and one little girl who had brought us our food said that she saw a different little boy playing with an iPad when we left. She had asked him where he got it, because she had a feeling it was the same one that our little boy had been playing with, and the dishonest little boy claimed it was his. Upon hearing this story the father called the police.

After searching security cameras in the area, and three hours of waiting for the lying and selfish family to return to their car, the police actually called and came with a car to take the father and my host dad to pick up the iPad. At this point I’m impressed. I’m thinking that all of the security cameras that I see each day might actually serve a good purpose. I’m thinking about how good justice feels and I’m wondering if the thief has any additional punishments coming his way, at the very least a strong rebuke from the cops to show the child that it that stealing is wrong (a message he obviously isn’t receiving from his parents).

About five minutes later the mother got a call. She seemed angry on the phone. Really angry. My host sister translated and told me that the thief requested 200 yuan (about 40 dollars) for returning the iPad.

They paid it.

This is the point where I’d normally give some commentary to rationalize what happened. I can’t this time. I’m speechless. I had sat in the car, mad, the entire way home. I know it’s not my iPad but the injustice was infuriorating. I’m not angry anymore; it makes me sad retelling the story. I only think about the dishonest family and how their child just saw dishonesty literally pay off.