Today I had my annual vision exam. I've been visiting the same eye doctor since she opened her practice 20 years ago. So, although I don't know her well, I've known her for a long time. She is professional, intelligent, polite, and soft-spoken. A note of particular interest to me at this moment in time is that the doctor is originally from Shanghai, China.
After my eye exam concluded, the doctor asked (as she always does) if I had any questions. I said I did, but it wasn't about eyes, and could I ask? She agreed, so I asked her what she thought about China's recent actions in the world.
This calm, quiet woman's face grew fierce with disgust. In an impassioned torrent of words, my doctor detailed her criticisms of Chinese President Xi. To sum up, she described him as "stupid" and "uneducated" and punctuated her understated tirade with expressions of her personal hatred for Xi and for what he has done to both China and the Chinese people.
I expressed regret if my question had upset her, but the doctor seemed relieved to be able to speak about it to me. She told me that she has been a US citizen for 30 years, as if to reassure me that she's an American. This pained me, because I hadn't wanted to put her in any way on defense. Her parents, now deceased, used to help in the office when she was establishing her practice. Other young family members work there now, so I knew her family had all immigrated safely from China many years ago. Had I not known that comforting fact, I would not have asked her the question.
I was simply curious to know her opinion, since China was her native home. The doctor has a closer perspective on, and a deeper understanding of, what is transpiring in China today. It is no consolation that she is more outraged than I am.
