With that in mind, I am shocked but not entirely surprised by a gift story my Chinese friend Xian told me while we were working together earlier this week.
While pulling an Apple Macbook Pro out of her handbag, I made a comment that Apple laptops are so popular among young people everywhere. Xian immediately blurted out,
“Oh–actually, it’s not mine, it’s my dad’s computer. He gave it to me, and I… was mad at him….you know…”
I immediately cut in, “What? You’re mad at him for giving you an Apple?”
“You know…Chinese people…” Xian began to explain in Mandarin Chinese. “They change the inside of something sometimes for convenience.”
“What do you mean?” I was puzzled.
“You know, my dad was happy to receive an Apple computer from a friend. It’s a popular, prestigious gift – it made my dad feel good that his friend was trying to please him, and willing to spend the money on an expensive and cool product. But my dad is not into learning new technology at his age, he’s used to Windows. So he had the Apple software replaced by Windows. But when he saw me and wanted to give that to me instead, I realized what happened to it. I was so mad that I had to spend the money to get it changed back to Apple!”
“What? That’s funny – he changed the core of Apple??” I burst out laughing.
We both laughed out loud.
But I totally get it.
I think it may be that an older generation of Chinese people see a popular product like an “Apple” laptop totally different from the younger bunch.
They see it as something that has to serve their needs. So, if their needs are practical and immediate, they’d change its core to fit them. At that moment, I wonder what my dad would do if he received an “Apple” laptop. I think he’d just give it away to whoever needs it most – without spending any time or money to change anything!
上星期，我们工作室，我的中国朋友，仙，告诉我一个令我惊讶的故事。她从她的包包拉出了她父亲送她的礼物：是一台手提电脑，苹果牌的MacBook Pro，可是一台好电脑。我随口告诉她，最近苹果牌的电脑，到处都很畅销，特别是在年轻人的商场上。她立刻尴尬地回答，＂啊－其实，这。。。这其实不是我的，不是我买的，是我爸爸的电脑。是他买给我的。当时我。。。其实很生他的气，因为他。。。你知道啦，他们那一时代，他。。。＂
我实在不了解，立刻插嘴。＂他买给你一台好的电脑，你怎么可以生气呢？＂仙得用普通话来解释：＂你懂啦，中国人。。。有时为了方便，他们会改变东西的心，的核子。＂
这可特别了。我想也想不通她的意思。＂我爸爸从朋友收到一台苹果牌的电脑，他很高兴。这名牌又贵又流行，想到他的朋友那么重视他，他觉得很高兴，很荣幸。可是人老了，他不习惯学新的科技，只知道，只习惯怎么用微软牌的Windows OS，所以。。。他把电脑的软件给拆了，换成Windows。可是他见到我时，就决定把这台电脑送给我。我收到后才发现发生了什么。当时我好生气，恨不得把软件在换回去。又麻烦，又得花钱，真头疼！＂
＂什么？太可笑了，他把苹果的核子给换了！难道不幽默嘛？＂
虽然我们俩聊到这可以笑到这样，但是我还是很明白她的意思。可能是因为比较老的那一时代对现在流行的产品的概念与我们的根本不一样。对他们来说，这些产品是买来为了做事，办公，符合需要。所以如果需要改变的话，这些用具也得改变。需要可比时髦重要。用不了的话，又时髦又怎样？改修核子就改修核子，不必再想。我想知道的是，如果我父亲得到一台苹果的话，他又会怎样呢？相信他其实会把它送给最需要的人，不会花费什么钱或时间来改变什么！