Maslow pays a visit

The concept of Maslow's Hierarchy of Need is one I've mentioned to my Western colleagues several times thus far as we share our experiences living in China. If you don't recall this from school, the model says that as humans the basic, first level of need is food, shelter, clothing; if you don't have those, the other four steps up the chart to "self-actualization" really don't matter.

I was reminded of Maslow's wisdom again today.

Returning from class to my apartment this morning I sat down at my laptop to work on adjusting my presentation for the next day. After a few hours I noticed my battery wasn't charging, so I adjusted the transformer and cord a bit, as I have learned it prefers, but couldn't seem to get it to work. Hum. Did the transformer blow? I took my curling iron and used the transformer to test it in another outlet. Nothing.

Since the sun flooded my apartment there was no need to hit the light switch, but remembering my experience of a circuit breaker blowing on Tuesday (and having to get ready for my first class using my flashlight) I inspected the circuit breaker. All looked right.

It's then I missed something: the heater. Neither heater belched out hot hair and my apartment was growing colder. Uh, oh. No electricity! Clearly, it didn't occur to me electricity could just as easily disappear as my hot water had the same time last week.

My best recourse: Brittania! I bundled up and tramped down the four flights of stairs, across West Campus, across the busy street dividing the campuses, across the East Campus, up six flights of stairs and into the Dept. office I strode to tell Brittania my woes. Quietly she listened. Then she took out a post it note and began writing in Chinese. After filling two note with these characters she told me to take this back to my apartment and hand it to the manager (who had been asleep in front of his TV when I left...he speaks no English and I no Chinese so I didn't see the point).

With a half hour before my next class and not wanting to leave this to the afternoon I double timed it back to my apartment...found the manager, handed him the note and assured myself he was taking action. I retraced my steps in triple-time since I now had 15 minutes to make a 20 minute commute. On my way back to class—exerting more local walking characteristics than I had exhibited thus far in my stay—I couldn't help but ponder good old Maslow. He really knew what he was talking about...food, shelter, clothing. This adventure serves as an example that brings me back to this level of focus on almost a daily basis. Sometimes it's just the basics that matter.