The Road of the Fortune Tellers
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Luck.
To the Chinese it's like water to fish: the element in which they live, move, and have their being, as unexamined and taken-for-granted as the air we breathe. So when a bright student said to me, "I think the Jews are unlucky" and went on to cite the Holocaust as the fact which led to this conclusion, how could I explain that attributing such a monumental tragedy to "bad luck" was a cultural conflict of mammoth proportions, a confusion of categories, like explaining a physics theorem by magic, or discussing religion in terms of mathematics?
Luck is so important to the Chinese that it has been institutionalized; in Hong Kong, instead of run-off elections, close races are decided by lottery. Luck knows best.
Given the importance of luck to the Chinese, it's not surprising that Fortune Tellers thrive. Shenzhen is styled a modern, progressive society. But an interesting little secret hides on its infrastructural underbelly.
If I walk from my house to the main thoroughfare of Shenzhen nearby, I need to cross the road to catch west-bound buses (a less-common journey now that the subway's running). The best way to cross is using a tunnel where I found something interesting.
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| This is a dead-end street |
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| And so is this. |
What makes this odd is, these are the two ends of one road, a road that is only as long as the width of the highway. Though manifestly designed for vehicular traffic, clearly no car can travel this road, unless it can somehow be carried down the stairs. And here, on a street that literally goes nowhere, the Fortune Tellers ply their trade, reading palms, faces, bamboo chim, and virtually anything else that will bring ease to their "clients"--and a buck to themselves.
Here they are, three along the right side, two chatting on the left, waiting for their next reading. Sometimes 10 or 12 are lined up, beckoning pedestrians as they pass.
What I wonder is: is it significant that the Road of the Fortune Tellers actually goes nowhere?
Comfort for money
I always wonder if it is possible to trust someone who's reading for money. If he tells you something you don't want to hear you'll never come back to him/her. So, of course they're going tell you something that sounds comforting, don't they?
Good question!
I was just telling my wife yesterday: someone once said that parents and school teachers have to be "results oriented." Because they know that their charges will have to move on, they only have a limited time to have an effect.
But ministers, psychologists, and medical doctors are better off if their clients DON'T improve, so they can keep "milking that cow." But, on the other hand, they have to do SOMEthing or their clients will go find someone more effective.
So maybe those who read for money have to walk the same tightrope: enough good news that people will feel good about them, but enough bad news that they feel the need for more "help."
What do you think?
James at The Buzz
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