articles
China Elevator Stories
“How Much Do You Earn?”
I chat with a 17-year old girl who works as a massage therapist on the second floor of a hair salon in Shenzhen.
07/08/2013
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
After having talked about our families, she asks me: “How tall are you? One meter seventy-something?”
I tell her: “I’m exactly 170.”
“You could be a model.”
“Working as a model would be too exhausting; I’m pretty happy with the job I have.”
She asks: “What’s your job?”
“I work as a graphic designer.”
“That’s a great job. How many hours do you have to work a day?”
“8. How about you?”
“We have to work more than 12 hours a day.”
“Wow, that must be really exhausting.”
She answers: “It is. How much do you earn? Your salary must be really high, I guess.”
After I tell her, I ask: “How much do you earn?”
“A little bit more than 2000 RMB (around 250 EUR or 325 USD). Do you live close by?”
“I do. How about you?”
“We live in a dormitory close by. Our employer pays for it.”
“How many people share a room?”
“Four.”
I mistake four for ten, because the words sound similar in Chinese, so I ask her: “Ten?”
She says: “No, four.”
“I see. Four is still okay, I guess. At least it’s better than 10, isn’t it?”
Have you ever had a conversation with a massage therapist?