COMMON SENSE WINS – Part One

My appointment with the lawyer at Taipei City Hall was at 11:30am Wednesday morning. Our appointment with the evil landlady was at 9:30pm that night.

I left home around 9:30am and got on the first bus I saw without checking the route. There was no one on the bus when I got on. The air con was blasting and the driver was having fun announcing each stop in a funny voice. It was quite amusing, actually, so I relaxed and started rehearsing what I wanted to say to the lawyer in my head. “I should find a Starbucks, have some coffee, and write things down before seeing the lawyer.” I thought. Then the bus made an unexpected turn. When I reoriented myself, I was pleased to discover that it was actually taking me toward the Starbucks closest to City Hall. “Maybe today, things will go my way for once.” I vaguely remember half-jokingly reading the weekly horoscope with Jeremy at work and it said Geminis would experience a change of luck from Wednesday and that matters involving the home would finally ease up. Let me tell ya, with the floods, apartment-hunting, and just general frustration from living in Taipei, it’s been tough on Bill and me and on our relationship. We could use a change of luck and some easing up on the home front.

At Starbucks, I spent half an hour watching a middle-aged couple setting up their wallet and clothing stand in front of the windows. I kept watching how, without exchanging a single word, the husband and wife built a mini store by stacking up a dozen shoe boxes and some metal frames. They seemed so calm and sure of what they were doing, but I kept wandering: How did they make the decision to make a living by standing on the side of the street in the unbearable heat of a subtropical summer? It’s gotta be tough to go home every day with your hair smelling like car exhaust, your feet swollen and sore, and your shirt drenched in sweat. I hoped they owned their house so they wouldn’t have stupid landlords to deal with on top of everything else. My wandering eyes then followed a young woman up the stairs of the overpass and I cringed and looked away when the four men at the table behind me started arguing about the color of her panties. Her jean skirt was way too short to walk up a flight of stairs! How could she not know this? If I had a daughter, I’d teach her these things. Annoyed by the men’s stupidity and the sudden upsurge of testosterone in the air, I left and headed to City Hall. I felt as if I had forgotten some things Bill wanted me to ask the lawyer, but I couldn’t think of any.

The lady at the Information Desk of Taipei City Hall was really nice and helpful, but she should really start carrying mints. I was exactly 30 minutes early for my appointment, but the lawyer agreed to see me right away. I told him about the leak and the floods. I told him we took pictures and made a list of damages. He explained the legal procedures for all possible scenarios. Then he started teasing me about the “foreign” accent in my Chinese, and he took over the piece of paper that I was taking notes on and wrote his cell phone number on it. “We’re not allowed to give out business cards here, but if you have any questions, you have my number.” “How do lawyers charge here in Taiwan?” I asked merely out of curiosity. “I won’t charge you anything if you just call for legal counsel.” Hmm….*flashbacks*….. Two doctors gave me their cell phone numbers during the time I spent in chemo therapy. Now I’ve got a lawyer’s cell phone number….. Maybe I should start a collection…… Better yet, maybe I should start a match-making service. “Wanna meet doctors and lawyers? Call 1-800-Kate-knows-some.”