Frustrating Saturday

Life can frustrate.

Some days, life just chooses to frustrate. And this has very little to do with where you live, what language is spoken around you, or what other type of stress you may be under. Saturday would have been a frustrating day anywhere.

S-- cried a lot. And her new form of crying is actually screaming. She skips the work-up to a wail, and just goes straight to the screaming. So let's amend that.

S-- screamed a lot.

Dave and I both lost patience with her in ridiculous ways, yelling and threatening and being generally unsuitable parents.

We decided that we had to get out, so we piled both kids into the stroller and headed for the Pu'an Lu Children's Market. Just around the corner from our hotel, and oft discussed as being a great place to take children, this seemed like a good afternoon to try it.

Think of a combination between an outdoor craft fair, a subway station, and a mall.

The entire market is underground. At the corner of Jin Ling Lu and Puan Lu is a small stand selling hot food - noodles, and squid grilled on a stick. A large staircase takes you into the depths of the market. Since its a children's market, the staircase has a board over it on the right so that you can send you stroller at a steep pitch into the depths with you.

Once in, the dim fluorescent lights give everything a bit of an illegitimate feeling, like maybe I shouldn't be here. But the ATM standing proudly in the middle gave an air of authenticity. Much like a craft fair, each person has their own stand piled high with goods. More like a mall, each stand is entirely enclosed and a very small room, with clothes and toys piled all the way to the ceiling and hanging on the front entry. The walkways are small and full of gawkers, pokey children, and strollers. Every few turns has a children's ride - a horsey, a car, an armored battle tank. The back has a play area where for 15 kuai, children can jump in the ball pit, climb through the tunnels and generally blow off steam. This is a good deal for $2, and Dave and L-- headed there while S-- and I perused some of the offerings.

I tried my hand at bargaining, and failed at every turn. I have been advised to counter the original offer with 1/3 the price, and never to pay more than half. I have consistently proven that I only ended up bargaining well for things that I do not want or need, but am unable to bargain effectively for something I would actually like to buy. I ended up buying nothing, except 2 board books that were clearly factory seconds and which I bought for what translates to only a few dollars less than the publisher's marked price.

What a sucker.

Feeling like a failure, I headed to the playground to find Dave and L--. S-- was getting tired, I was getting hungry, and the frustrations of the day were only building.

Walking the entire length of the playarea, I saw no sign of either Dave or L--.

Walking the block of shops around the playarea, I saw no sign of either Dave or L--.

Again, walking the entire length of the playarea, I saw no sign of either Dave or L--.

After 10-15 minutes of this, I went to stand by the front entry. There was no use searching through this maze of cavernous little shops to find them. If they weren't where they said they would be, I was stuck and just needed to wait.

Frustration and anger mounted.
I had no hotel key with me, and so had no option but to wait.
There was no chair by the front door, and S-- was quickly losing patience with me.
I was thirsty, but with S-- on the verge of screaming I couldn't reach the bottle of water I had thought to bring along.

I must have looked like a cartoon, steam pouring out of my ears, my face turning red and my eyes studded with tears.
How could he do this to me, I fumed?

After 20 more minutes, I was unable to wait standing still any longer. Feeling futile, I headed into the market once again. I made my way back to the play area.

And saw Dave and L-- playing.

Have you been here the whole time?

Sure. We expected you quite a while ago.

We went home, and I didn't speak for the next hour.