lights out:

i left work later than usual today to speak to someone who currently lives in shanghai.  lovely lady.  i must say, my perception of mainland chinese folk has changed dramatically over the last two years.  i stepped across the border to shenzhen for the first time two years ago, and dared not to look at any mainlander straight in the eye.  i would secretly observe from the corners of my eyes and almost immediately, a cold shiver would run all throughout my body.  there was something strange about them. my preconceptions about the mainland had me think of them as a poor, shameless and aggressive kind.  i was worried someone would mark me and take me to a dark room and sell off my organs one by one on the black market.  some of that suspicion still remains with me unfortunately; i still cannot say i am 100% comfortable and trusting, but my eyes have definitely opened up as have my perceptions on my ancestors.  i have learned that there are your good eggs and your bad eggs.  i suppose i always knew this, but i had to see it for myself to believe it.

so as i was saying, i left work later than usual and had to pee before i closed up the office.  at 7:59pm, i walk into the bathroom, pulled down my pants and started to pee.  as i reached to grab 10+ squares of toilet paper (i am a toilet paper fiend), the lights suddenly went out.  my heart jumped.  i said out loud, "oh shit."  i quickly wiped, pulled my pants up, ran my hands through water and ran the eff out.  8:00pm.  eff.  that must be the time they shut down the lights to save on energy.  there is a bit of an eerie hollow echo-y silence by the bathroom that really spooks me out also - i guess you'll never hear of me working that late again.