Food + accident

Got into a car accident the other day. Some scrapes and a busted up knee, but I suppose I was due for one. Too long without a vehicular accident in Beijing gives me an almost uneasy feeling  

Ting Bu Dong...

I know it’s coming, I can see it before it even happens. Some Chinese girl on a bike comes flying through the intersection, I yell, but since I’m on a fixed gear and she doesn’t know how to use her brakes, we crash. I help her up and she starts yelling at me in Chinese. Within 2 minutes, there are at least 20 Chinese people around us, taking in the bilingual yelling match. She is yelling about her broken high heel and bike basket which got dented. I ask her if she wants money and she says no, but she wants me to give her a new shoe and basket. Sorry, I’m fresh out of those. I explain that I have to go to work, but of course no one understands. I also tell her that it takes 2 people to crash and although I am the foreigner, I am not solely responsible for the accident. I had planned to just ride off but there are now 30 people circled around us and I have no where to go. Some old man says I should give her 500 Yuan. WHAT? I tell him to promptly ‘Fuck off’. I end up giving her 26 Yuan, and slowly squeeze my way through the throng of people hoping no one chases after me. I can’t stand (the majority of) Chinese motorists and people on bikes. I would call them cyclists, but cyclists at least have an understanding of how to use a bike. On a lighter note, my fixed gear took no damage. Total crashes so far: 1