Alien Nation

Before you leave, baobei, listen to me. If a man wearing a blue mask approaches you, step away, because men like him breathe plague. If a man wearing a black mask approaches you, cross the street, because men like him breathe fire. Do not hold the handrail on escalators, for they carry sickness, and on elevators, press the buttons with your elbow. When you pass graffiti and rubble, do not linger, do not stare, and definitely do not take pictures because freedom fighters are everywhere, and they will crush your skull with a brick unless you are a gweilo, a Westerner, which you are not. Don’t trust the protestors but don’t trust the police either, don’t trust anybody or anything, and do not speak Mandarin, ancestral tongue or not, because they’ll know you’re from China and it will only bring you harm, so only speak English, and if you don’t understand their Cantonese, just smile and nod, then get the hell out of there. Maybe before, when our city was safe, they would listen to reason, but now that the streets are empty and the stores have been broke and the people have sealed their hearts up in stone, now that every wind brings new rumors of a shapeshifting enemy and every breath promises disease, you cannot argue and you cannot shout and you cannot scream, because speaking your truth is a pipe dream. Put your mask on. Hide your face. Muffle your voice, and keep yourself safe. Put your mask on, stay alive. You’ll catch either disease or a fist in the mouth otherwise.