The Bag Keepers at the Embassy

By Roadshop

The Bag Keepers at the Embassy

By Roadshop

It is a place of absurdity. At the entrance of the visa of fice at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, people queued patiently in long and slow-moving lines towards security check points, their eyes filled with timidity and uncertainty, as if waiting for the call of fate. Before coming here, they could be beautiful ladies carrying designer bags, commanding bosses of corporations, or poor students who’d taken the TOFEL five times. But once they are here, they only look like illegal immigrants in the eyes of visa of ficers.

But the real suspicious illegal workers are literally just steps away from the fence that separates the long queues. They are in fisherman hats and sports shoes. Their skins burnt in the sun, they shout out,“Electrical watches, USBs, and lighters are not allowed in. Not allowed in!”

The U.S. Embassy bans personal effects from being brought in for safety concerns, and limited by space and staff, lockers are not provided. A new trade—bag keeping—was thus born, figured out by those living in the bottom of the society. They do their illegal business outside of the U.S. Embassy, and yet they become the first security checking specialists of the embassy.

It is RMB 30 for keeping a normal bag and more expensive for luggage. Their monthly income can exceed RMB 7000.

美國駐華大使館簽證處的入口，可算是北京的一個荒誕之地。背著名牌包的美女，公司里呼風喚雨的老總，考了5次托福的窮學生，都得乖乖加入安檢口外龜速挪動的長隊，惴惴不安地等待命運的裁決。在簽證官眼里，他們大約都長了一張移民打黑工的臉。

然而，形跡可疑打“黑工”的明明是隊伍柵欄外那幫人。他們頭戴漁夫帽，腳踩旅游鞋，皮膚黝黑粗糙，口頭禪整齊劃一：“電子表、U盤、打火機統統帶不進去，帶不進去啊。”

為了安全，美使館簽證處列出一系列禁止攜帶入內的物品，而且限于場地和人力，簽證處內不提供存包點。這經中國底層百姓一琢磨，就創造出了一個新行當——看包人。他們在美使館外打著“黑工”，卻成了簽證處當之無愧的第一道安檢員。

普通物品30元寄存一件，大件行李再貴些，看一個月包能收入7000元以上。

不過，一些潛在客戶心存疑慮。畢竟32G的U盤里存著資料，手機更是不能讓別人接近，要把它們一個傳一個像接力火種般托付給柵欄外的陌生人，這種破釜沉舟的勇氣不是每個人都有的。

但看包人有辦法，他們對用戶痛點的把握，值得不少廣告人學習。對于第一次辦簽證的人，資料不全、信息填錯簡直是阿喀琉斯之踵。沒錯，這項超值咨詢服務，看包人就能提供。

這不，一個剛下出租車、拎著大包小包的禿頂大哥，在不到1分鐘時間里，就把身份證、營業執照、駕駛執照、存款證明甚至全家福一股腦倒了出來，接受看包大姐的檢閱。

看包人有時還會附贈拍照服務，如果發現你的照片不合格，不出5分鐘，拍照、修圖、打印，在看包人神奇的車后座小作坊里，一張絕對符合要求的照片就誕生了，比你之前的任何一張證件照都精致。

簽證處出口也有看包人的生意。一個青年沮喪地從出口出來，立刻引來一個看包人，向他遞上寫有“拒簽分析”的名片。“拒簽了吧？沒事兒，打這個電話，我們幫你分析分析。”青年還沒緩過勁兒，眼里寫滿不甘和狐疑，擺擺手，停在半空的小卡片最終沒接過來。

這種拒絕不算什么，賴賬的才讓人傻眼。一個小伙在給一個大媽看了兩個半小時包后，簽證到手的大媽一改之前的楚楚可憐，大喊道：“我憑什么給你錢？”奪過包腿腳利索百米飛人似的跑了。望著大媽絕塵而去的背影，小伙的表情就像坐了過山車一樣：“都要出國的人了，連30塊錢也不愿付？”

此外，每天開著警車在周邊巡邏的警官也飄浮在每個看包人的眼前。還有站崗的便衣武警，他們不常說話，但凌厲的眼神和筆直的身板令看包人戰戰兢兢，生怕手里的小卡片掉在地上，影響了市容。

看包人像老瓦房墻根里的苦菜籽，在夾縫中難見陽光卻蓬勃生長。這是一門因“不方便”而產生的生意，就像小時候上學路上賣紅領巾的小販，能讓你免于懲罰順利入校。這些中國底層百姓獨有的生存智慧，拍著腦袋只管禁不管存的老外是很難讀懂的。

（摘自《國家人文歷史》2017年第8期）

However, clients worry. Least of all, a 32G USB is full of personal information, let alone mobiles.Passing them off to a stranger through the fence and seeing them passed off, hand after hand, like a relay—it requires courage no less than fighting with one’s life without any backing. Not everyone can do that.

But the bag keepers have their own way.Advertisement professionals could take a lesson from how they accurately identify the pain points of their clients. For those who apply for the first time, the lack of required documents or mistakes in filling in the form is like Achilles’ heel for their application. Bingo! This is where bag keepers throw in their value-added consulting services.

Look! Now this bald guy with both luggage and a bag has surrendered all of his documents including ID, business certificate, driver’s license,savings certificate, and photos of family for the bag keeping woman’s scrutiny within one minute after he got off a taxi.

They also provide photography services. Once they screen a disqualified photo, a 100% qualified photo can be produced in five minutes, during which, taking the photo, retouching the photo,and printing have all happened. The new photo can be the best passport photo the client ever gets.

Their business also expands to exits of the visa of fice. A young man walks out with his head hanging to his chest, from whom a bag keeper immediately smells business and comes up holding out a business card with “visa rejection analysis” printed on it. “Rejected? Don’t you worry. Call this number and we will analyze the reasons for you.” The young man is still bewildered with mixed feelings of doubt and anger. He eventually waves his hand and left the card hanging there.

Rejection of service offers is common but it is astonishing to see people refusing to pay. A young man kept the bag for an old woman for two and a half hours. The woman was given the visa and quickly changed her attitude from timidity to shouting, “Why should I pay you?”With this, she snatched her bag and sprinted off.Looking at her dashing off, the young man’s face showed disgust as if he had just drunk sour milk,“Having the money to travel internationally and can’t afford RMB 30?”

The patrolling police officers are the other people who appear daily in the area with the bag keepers, as well as undercover policemen standing their shifts outside. They rarely talk, but their sharp looks and straight backs cast their authority on the bag keepers, who behave and mind not to ever drop their cards on the street to stain the city’s image.

The bag keepers are like the seeds of bitter herbs finding their soil at the root of old thick walls and despite in the shade most of the time,they grow lavishly. It is a business originated from small “inconveniences”, like in old times the vendors on the way to primary schools selling red scarves, when it was a punishable act if you didn’t wear one on campus. People at the bottom of society are wise in their own way for making a living, although it is not easy for the foreigners who made the forbidding but no locker rule to understand.

(From National Humanity History, Issue 8,2017. Translation: Zhang Lei)

使館門前看包人

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