***** Vol.2 Chap.22 Humiliation with the porters *****
They moved aside and sat on the bench, watching the people filing past them. Even though she was safe with her grandpa now, she would still hang on to his coat. After what seemed like an eternity, the traffic finally dwindled down and Grandpapa said it was time to leave. She grabbed the bundle with one hand and with the other hand hanging on tight to him. They started walking again. This time she resolved she would not let go of her hand even if they tore her apart from limb to limb.
Just then, two stout looking persons in uniform came up to them.
“We are the official porters hired by the train station. May we help you with your bundles?”
“No, thank you. We can manage ourselves.”
“The next train will come in momentarily. We will help you get to the exit gate quickly.”
“Thank you. But we can handle our things.”
“Our service is free. We are hired by the train station. I am John and he is Joe.”
“Free?”
“No charge.”
“Really?”
“We are employed specifically to help seniors so that we can keep the traffic going. The next train will come in soon. We don’t want you to be blocking the traffic again.”
“Oh, in that case, OK.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just the exit gate.”
“Your bundle seems heavy. Let me help you with it.”
Grandpa Chen handed him the bundle.
“We can only help you to the exit gate.”
“Do we have far to go?”
“Not really.”
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“Joe, get the other bundle.”
May-Ling would not let go.
“I am just going to carry this for you to the exit gate.”
“No.” May-Ling held her bundle closer to her body.
The two men took Grandpa Chen’s bundle and started off towards the exit gate.
“Just follow us.” They yelled back.
“Well, we better hurry and follow them.” Grandpa Chen said to May-Ling.
He took her hand, and the two started towards the exit gate. She thought it was nice that the train station would hire porters to help the passengers. As they rounded a corner, the porters had gone out of sight. They could not see the porters anywhere. She thought that the two men were walking just a little too fast.
“Where are the porters?”
“They must be waiting for us at the exit gate.”
After a few more turns, they finally arrived at the exit gate, but there were no porters there. Neither did they see their possessions anywhere. They walked around the gate looking for their bundle, but could not see any. They tried looking for those two men, but they were nowhere to be found. At the gate; there was a single security guard keeping people from coming in. Grandpa Chen walked up to talk to the security guard.
“Excuse me, sir. There were two porters named John and Joe. They helped us with my bundle. Do you know where they have put my bundle?”
“John and Joe?”
“Yes, the two official porters hired by the train station?”
The security guard looked at him and laughed.
“Can you please tell me where to find John and Joe?”
“We have no official porters hired by the train station.”
“None?”
“None.”
“They told us their names were John and Joe.”
“So.”
“They said they were official porters.”
“We have no official porters.”
“What?”
“Are you deaf, old man? We don’t hire porters at all.”
“Then what happened to my things?”
“Gone.”
“Gone?”
“Stolen.”
“Stolen?”
“Yup.”
“Is there someone I can talk to about this?”
“If you go back to the office in the Main Terminal, you can see the station manager and file a complaint.”
“Go all the way back?
“Yup.”
“Is there anything else I can do?”
“The station manager will tell you the same thing.”
“What are we going to do?”
“You have been scammed.”
“That is not fair.”
“We have many reports that thieves came in posting as porters to relieve the passengers of their possessions.”
“Really?”
“We have problems with petty thieves like this at least two or three times a day. You are not the only one.”
“Oh my, oh my.”
“You are the first one for the day, but you will not be the last one.”
“Oh no, my stuff!”
“Please move along.”
“Grandpapa, what happened? Where is our stuff?”
“I am afraid they are stolen,” he told her. “They are not porters, but thieves and had stolen all our possessions. Anyway, there is nothing more we can do about it now. The important thing is that you still have your bundle.”
On that note, May-Ling held her little bundle even closer and tighter.
“But our stuff?”
“They are gone, May-Ling. Be careful. We are now in the big city. We are not in the little village any more. There are lots of bad people in the big city. Let’s go to the bus station and go home.”
All these events were too much for May-Ling. She did not know whether to cry or what.
“Please move along now.” The security guard urged them to move as another deluge of people was about to descend onto the gate.