We Steal from the Chinese

They say that 1 human year is the equivalent to 7 dog years. Not sure how they came up with this or why the two have to be compared in this way. Isn’t it simpler to just say that dogs don’t live as long as humans? Then we can start using the dog year analogy for other things. For example, 1 year running a business in China is the equivalent to 7 human years. I am sure this might apply to more things then just running a business, but I can speak first hand that it has been 2 years since the Chicago Coffee Company was established and the toil it has taken feels nothing short of an equivalent 14 years of life.

There are ways to keep this kind of wear and tear off the proverbial business tires. Shortcuts. There are shortcuts to be had in any country in the world and even the US of A is certainly not without its share of corruption and injustice. But here shortcuts in this political and economic system are so widely used that they can no longer be considered shortcuts. They are the status quo. Because of this “playing by the rules” and “following the law” are such foreign concepts that in order to do so the government has actually set it up to discourage such behavior. i.e the Fapiao 发票 system (which I hope to touch on in a later post).

One of those shortcuts is the use of 关系 “Guan Xi” or the use of relationships or each person’s social capital to incur favors in order to get something done that otherwise would not be possible. The more guanxi one person or one company has the more favor one can enjoy from other companies, individuals, or government entities.

Another shortcut is less a cultural custom and more of a universal injustice practiced in almost every country in the world. That shortcut is simply the violation of an established minimum wage for workers and/or the violation of basic employee rights in order to save money or time or both. Fast food giants, McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut, are notorious minimum wage violators and have been found guilty in some Chinese cities of underpaying its workers.

It is no secret to most that these Fast Food giants have been paying sometimes half the minimum wage or as little as 3 or 4 yuan per hour (43 – 58 cents per hour) despite having lower operating costs and the same prices as their U.S. based counterparts. Instead of just settling for making a hefty profit they have chosen to steal from the Chinese so they can make a killing at every one of their 100’s of locations. And the worst part is its not just mega chains that have taken up this practice but even local foreign owned restaurants and cafes like Silver Spoon* have made this common practice and run on the reputation of abusing Chinese workers simply because its cheaper and easier. I understand that Chinese companies do this as well and they should be called to the same standards as well, but it is disgusting to see foreign businesses doing it without any concern or respect for the Chinese people.

I am not perfect in what I do by any means, and I can’t guarantee that those that work for my company will leave thinking it was the best job they have ever had. But I can guarantee they will be paid a fair wage of at least the minimum wage (nearly double the city average wage) and that they will be shown the respect and concern they deserve as fellow human beings. The Chinese are not just cheap labor and those that treat them as such will surely be held accountable at some point.

* Changes in management have been made recently at Silver Spoon so I am unaware if other changes to their practices have been made as well

The little things

Sometimes there isn't much to say or post that is not of the frustrating nature, business wise at least. So as thanksgiving has come and gone I am thankful for some of the little things.

1) The remaining people out there that are friendly and allow you to build rapport quickly. Seems like it happens more in the small cities than places like Kunming even though that was not usually the case a few years ago.

2) Ms Chen at the police station. I have had enough dealings with the police over the past few years and Ms Chen is one of the few officers that is cheerful and always willing to help.

3) Taxation with representation. Hard to be thankful for taxes but when a government mysteriously implements a new tax without explanation on small businesses right before Christmas and Chinese New Year wiping out any cash reserves and applies it retro-actively, it is easier to have fondness for taxation the just way.

4) Coffee's addictive nature. It's great that coffee has spurned endless possibilities on how it can be consumed and that I never grow tired of a simple black hot cup of Joe.

- Posted via iPhone

Enjoy the Holidays @ Chicago Coffee

Eggnog Latte, Gingerbread Latte, Toffee Nut Latte, & Peppermint Mocha

available now through the holidays

Humiliated and Insulted

"But I can tell you this. If it were only possible (which, however, from the laws of human nature never can be possible), if it were possible for every one of us to describe all his secret thoughts, without hesitating to disclose what he is afraid to tell and would not on any account tell other people, what he is afraid to tell his best friends, what, indeed, he is even at times afraid to confess to himself, the world would be filled with such a stench that we should all be suffocated." ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

"Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid." ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

I do not like being insulted by rich people. Of course I do not like being insulted by anyone but the way the "haves" treat the "have-nots" is nothing short of deplorable. The debate that rages inside of me is whether describing my true and secret thoughts would truly be a suffocating stench or if leaving the truth unsaid would be a much greater travesty. Do I ignore a cultural custom by being direct with my innermost feelings or do I let someone violate a universal custom in allowing them to treat the rest of the world like their personal trash can?

Why does money so often become a license for disrespect?

Breaking News- THINK UK under new management

Maybe its not breaking and maybe its not news but for those of us that live and work in the massive apartment complex THINK UK the idea of the management being booted at midnight and a new regime taking over immediately it is at least noteworthy. And yes I do mean that a new regime is here. In place of the old gatekeepers and guards there are masses of military police looking guards. These new super patrols give off the aura of storm troopers in the "I feel like this is going to be a lot worse for everyone involved" sort of way.

I returned home tonight at 12:30 to what looked like a bomb scare. 20 storm troopers at every entrance and hundreds of fellow THINK UK'ers all meandering about trying to figure out what was happening. Now as many know the management and I have never really got along for numerous of reasons. In fact, when asked to vote for which new management company I wanted I infamously used my 3 votes to vote for life without any management company. No one to nitpick every coffee shop decision we make and no one to keep me from ridding our neighborhood from our teeming mangy cat population once and for all. But alas, I am a bit worried that the few problems we had with the old management may grow into some serious problems with any new management company. Especially one that seems to favor a little too heavily in the 厉害 (li hai- shrewd) department.