Posted on 06/06/2008 8:48:20 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
In an act of moral foolhardiness, Fan Meizhong set out on a blog his guiding principle: in matters of life and death, it's every man for himself.
When the quake struck, rather than overseeing an orderly evacuation, he said he just shouted "Stay calm, it's an earthquake!" and ran for it without looking back to see if his pupils were following.
"I ran towards the stairs so fast that I stumbled and fell as I went. When I reached the centre of the football pitch, I found I was the first to escape. None of my pupils was with me," wrote the man now known across China as 'Runner Fan'.
When his pupils began to arrive, they asked: "Teacher, why didn't you bring us out?"
His explanation was simple. "I have a very strong sense of self-preservation," he said. "I have never been a brave man and I'm only really concerned about myself."
While newspapers have largely followed instructions to concentrate on uplifting tales of rescue work since the earthquake, the internet has seen a wild variety of tales emerge.
It was internet sites that first reported the quake, and where some of the first pictures of collapsed schools were posted. Internet users have debated how to apportion blame for shoddy building work, as well as rallying praise for emergency services and politicians seen to have done a good job.
Other local officials have been vilified by name for a variety of offences, some relatively trivial, such as smiling too much during visits by their superiors.
Some plotlines have been wild, such as those which have discussed whether fortune-tellers could have foretold disaster, but few have hit upon such a sensitive topic as Mr Fan.
He was not the first to raise the issue. Many news reports have focused on stories of teachers putting children first, almost certainly representing the vast majority, such as that of another teacher, Tan Qianqiu, whose body was found shielding four of his pupils, all of them alive.
But some schools were uneasy that their teachers had a higher survival rate than pupils.
One such was Juyuan School, where hundreds of pupils died - parents say 500 to 700 though the official number is 278 out of 900 - but only six out of 80 teachers. Parents pointed out that teachers stood nearest the doors.
But Mr Fan went further, attempting to justify his abandonment of his pupils, who all survived the quake.
"I didn't cause the earthquake, so I have no reason to feel guilty," he said in an interview. "When I got back to the classroom, the students were all fine."
He also risked angering those closer to him, saying he would not have tried to save his own mother if she had been present, though he might have made an exception to his general rule for his one-year-old daughter.
He pointed out that education law does not demand that a teacher save his pupils during an earthquake.
"If every teacher was like Mr Tan, then we'd have no more heroes," he said. "I admire heroes like Mr. Tan, but I can't do that myself. I love my life more."
Now the head of the private school where Mr Fan worked is under pressure to fire the teacher, and publicly questioned Mr Fan's wisdom in being so frank. Running might be a normal reaction, he said, but talking about it afterwards was something else entirely.
One commentator in a state newspaper, the Shanghai Daily, described Mr Fan as a "courageous coward" for admitting what happened - but added that his courage was not sufficient to exonerate his cowardice.
Mr Fan may as he said have been trying to prick the hypocrisy of "insincere tears", the commentator said.
"Yes, there are insincere tears but you, Fan Meizhong, should have challenged hypocrisy with sincere tears," he wrote.
(Quote) CHILDREN: That’s the coward that left us to die!
FAN (voice is hoarse from screaming): I...was trying to lead the way. We needed a leader! Someone to lead the way to safety.
CHILDREN: But you yelled “get out of my way”!
FAN: Because! Because, as the leader...if I die...then all hope is lost! Who would lead? The principal? Instead of castigating me, you should all be thanking me. What kind of a topsy-turvy world do we live in, where heroes are cast as villains? Brave men as cowards?
CHILDREN: But I saw you push the women and children out of the way in a mad panic! I saw you knock them down! And when you ran out, you left everyone behind!
FAN: Seemingly. Seemingly, to the untrained eye, I can fully understand how you got that impression. What looked like pushing...what looked like knocking down...was a safety precaution! In a fire, you stay close to the ground, am I right? And when I ran out that door, I was not leaving anyone behind! Oh, quite the contrary! I risked my life making sure that exit was clear. Any other questions?
FIREMAN: How do you live with yourself?
FAN: Its not easy.
(apologies to Seinfeld) (Unquote)
Well, hell, at least he is honest.
More honest than the typical Congresscritter
And soon to lose his life anyway … commies love to punish disaster survivors. ;-)
GOP senator?
He’s like a Chinese Kennedy
What a freakin' coward. Put him in the category of that man in Jurassic Park who abandoned the kids when the T-Rex came after them... and who got his head bitten off.
Or that man in Aliens who locked himself in a room only to find an alien in the room with him.
Hope mr fan is never in a fire and needs a fireman to save his sorry butt..the fireman could shout to mr fan inside..”Sorry..but my sense of self preservation is to great to save you..besides..I didn’t start the fire.”
Say a prayer for all the teachers who didn’t run, and who died with their children.
Still not over it :(
Mr. Fan is related to Obama then?
Nah...he’s probably got French blood.
Oh gawd, I LOVED that episode, thanks for the smile!
One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes. The one where Lisa Edelstein is George’s girlfriend is another.
French lessons
At an embassy party in Paris, an American general heard a French diplomat categorize the U.S. mission in Iraq as “just an example of empire-building” by President Bush.
“Over the years,” the general responded, “the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those who did not return.”
You could have heard a pin drop.
* * *
At a gathering of international engineers in France, a representative of the host country was spouting off during a break. “Have you heard about the latest stunt by Bush?” he demanded. “He sent an aircraft carrier to Myanmar to help the storm victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?”
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: “Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people. They are nuclear-powered and can supply emergency electricity to shore facilities. They have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters to transport victims. We have 11 such ships. How many does France have?”
You could have heard a pin drop.
* * *
A U.S. admiral was at a reception attended by personnel from the American, British, Canadian, Australian and French navies. Everyone was chatting in English as they sipped their drinks, and a French officer took offense. “Europeans learn many languages; Americans know only English,” he said with a sniff. “Why are we all speaking English now when we could be speaking French?”
Without hesitating, the American admiral replied: “Maybe it’s because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German.”
You could have heard a pin drop.
* * *
A group of American retirees went to France on a tour. They arrived in Paris by plane and began filing through French customs, but one elderly gentleman of 83 had trouble locating his passport.
“You have been to France before, monsieur?” the customs officer asked in a snooty tone.
“Yes, once,” the visitor replied.
“Then you should know to have your passport ready,” the officer snipped.
“The last time I was here, I didn’t have to show it,” the American said.
“Impossible!” was the reply. “Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France.”
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long, hard look before answering. “Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in ‘44 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find a Frenchman to show it to.”
You could have heard a pin drop.
I’ve never heard of these stories...where did you get them and can I borrow them?
Why, eleven, naturally. That's because, when it comes to defense, what's ours is assumed to be theirs.
As far as I know, they are mere humor and yes, you can use them.
Propaganda 101. Shift the blame away from the central (commie ) government. The people will rally behind you.
Well, at least he didn’t smile too much during the interview.
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