THE Lowly Peon

Simple Pleasures: The Water Cooler 
26 January 2010, 12:03pm

As some of you know, and others have made fun of, every household in China has water coolers. They're pretty useful — not only is the water clean, but it keeps it hot for tea, and another part keeps it cool for drinking. What's better is that a company nearby will deliver it for 8rmb (a little over US$1).

The girl that runs the place (she and her husband, from what I gather, own and operate, but he tends to stay behind the scenes) is great. When I first came here, I went to their little bodega all the time to get little stuff — toilet paper, fruit, snacks, sometimes booze — and she always welcomed me with a big smile.

After a while, I really only called them to deliver water. It was always a challenge to communicate with them what building I was in. I generally got the message across by saying "There are two tallest towers, and I'm in the eastern one." After a while, she recognized me just by saying "I'm the white guy at Liuyun Yuan."

Since I've been traveling so much lately, I haven't gone through the big water bottles as quickly as usual. I just called, and she recognized me right away and said "it's been a long time since you've come to visit! Where have you been?!"

Just made my day.