The Masks Part 3

I stood there in shock at the cops in front of me.

“先生。我們可不可以看您身分證？ [Sir may we see your ID?]” asked one of the cops.

I hand the guy my ID card.

“有這麼問題嗎？ [What's the problem?]” I asked.

“這裡的店員說你在外面打擾他們的客人 [Well, it seems people in the shop were concerned that you were harassing customers outside.]" replied other other police officer.

I explained to the cops that I had lost my mask, and that I was hoping to get someone who was going into the drugstore to buy me a mask.

They said it's illegal to stand outside the shop to ask people to buy you masks, as that's harassment. If I really can't get a mask, they can get one for me, but they'll need to take me to the police station first to fill out a report. The cops also explained to me that one cannot bring just a single mask when one walks outside in Taiwan because if they lost it, they would have serious problems.

Normally Taiwanese carry a great big stack of masks with them when they go out everyday. Even though most the government has relaxed restrictions outdoors, strict regulations still exist indoors. Moreover, most Taiwanese have just gotten used to wearing masks so it's unlikely people here will go anywhere maskless.

Jesus, I thought to myself....

While they were explaining this, Haruna emerges from the Subway station, and sees me with two cops standing beside me.

She looks at me with dread.

"那是我的朋友。她給我帶了口罩 [Hey that's my friend. She's got masks for me.]“ I said.

The cops then look at Haruna.

"妳認識這個人嗎？ [You know this guy?]“ one of the cops ask her.

There is silence for a few seconds... I know she doesn't want to answer. I suddenly think back to the Karaoke club that night in DC when one of the employees asked me if I knew Li. I guess I know he must have felt at that time.

”對。我認識他 。。。 [Yeah I know him...]“ she replied in a very annoyed tone.

Once I got my masks, I had to fill out a short report, which the cops let me do right by the subway station. But this took more time. After all was said and done, I didn't have time for any food. I needed to be in Mark's office in like 20 minutes.

So I called for an Uber to take me to Taipei 101.

The car came in about 5 minutes, and I (along with my newly acquired box of masks) hopped in. The driver seemed to be a lady who wasin her 50s, but I am not really sure. She has sunglasses, a mask and her hands had gloves to protect against the sun. Basically she looked like a Ninja.

“你好。 謝謝接我。我是要去台北01 [Hello, thanks for getting me. I'm going to Taipei 101]” I said in a Rushed tone.

“好 沒問題 [OK. No problem.]” replied the lady who was driving.

"Sure. Thank you." I replied back in English. At this point, I was sweating bullets. I didn't have any towel or handkerchief to use, so I wiped off my sweat with a mask.

The driver looked at me in shock.

“先生。我有衛生紙你可以用！！[Sir I have some tissues you can use！！]” she said to me in shock.

"OK thank you." I replied back English.

She handed me the tissues.

She then looked at me with a confused look ... here it comes. The "where are you from" from question.

"So wait where are you from?" she asked in English.

I explained the events of the day to her. She laughed ... and you know what 。。。 it was nice to hear that. It sort of put the day into perspective.

I mentioned that to her that I'm in a hurry to get to 101 since I have a meeting with a new potential client.

The lady looked at her route on Google Maps... the path was all red.

She suddenly turns a hard right into an Alley.

"Hey where are you going?" I asked in shock.

“你不是說你在趕時間嗎？ [Didn't you say you were rushed?]" She asked me.

“對啊。但是到達時候 我還是想有我的生命！ [Yes but I want to still have my life when I arrive!]" I yelled back at her.

"Then sit tight!" she replied.

She got me there from Daan Station to Taipei 101 in about 6 minutes...

As I got out and was about to give her a HUGE UBER tip, she reminded me of a couple things.

"不要忘記你見客人前你一定要換個新口罩。 這樣會讓他感覺你尊重他。[Well if you need to a meet a client, make sure to change to a fresh mask just before you meet. That will show that you're respectful to not get him sick.]" she said.

“我可以在室內脫口罩換新的嗎 ？[I need to take my old mask off to change it. Is that okay to do this inside?]” I asked.

“你可以如果你在喝飲料或者吃東西。 你喝茶時候就可以換。 我們在室內拿飲料就是因為這給我們一個機會脫口罩 [It is okay if you're holding food or a drink. Get a cup of coffee or tea inside and take the old mask off when you're drinking. Then put on a new mask when you are done. That's the whole point of eating indoors now... is to give us a chance to take off our masks]” she said while laughing.

“Really?” I asked in shock.

"Yup." she replied. "Welcome to Asia!"

I walked into Mark's office fully masked. The receptionist then greeted me and offered my a cup of tea. I sat down with the tea and took off my mask. Totally okay. No one even raised an eyebrow. For a second I want to test this theory by putting the drink down while STILL MASKLESS .. but that would really be pushing my luck.

I hear a door open. So I then reach into the mask box and pull out a new mask and open the wrapping all while holding the cup of tea.

I see Mark walking towards me. So I get up and put on the new mask. It was perfect timing. And although he tried not to show it, it was obvious that he was happily surprised at this.

"Mark, it's good to see you!" I said.

"Hey John. You too." he replied.

He offered his fist out, so we did a fist bump.

We walked into his office, and sat down. After all the pleasantries, we go down to business.

"John, as you know, many of my associates do not speak English, so we'll need to switch into Chinese for this part of the interview. Is that okay?" he asked.

"當然沒有問題啊 【Of course there's no problem]"

The interview continued for almost an hour in all Chinese. After which I got the contract to do the site development.

While walking out, Mark commented that he was impressed with my knowledge of Asian culture.

"謝謝您大哥 ！[Thank you!]" I replied back.

He then switched in English. "You see, we really are worried about dealing with people that don't understand Asian culture. That would just shock most of our clients. For example, I just read on a Facebook group about some crazy 老外 (lao-wai ... aka Gaijin) at Daan station that only brought ONE mask when he went outside. He then lost it and attempted to get other people going into the store to get masks for him. Can you imagine that???" he asked me in shock.

I paused for a second...

"Oh my god! That crazy LAO-WAI (foreigner)..."