Video of Teenager’s Subway Outburst at Salesgirls Sparks Outrage

(Beijing) — Most people silently look away and feign ignorance when approached by beggars and product peddlers on the streets and subways. But one teenager who exploded in rage at two such salesgirls in Beijing has become the latest hot topic for discussion among the many harried Chinese of today.

A video-gone-viral of the 17-year-old boy swearing abusively at two young salesgirls on a subway spotlights the rapid rise of high-tech gadgets among the legions of people who ply China’s subways, airwaves and cyber realm with unwanted business solicitations. For many living in China’s biggest cities, barely a day goes by without receiving at least two or three such solicitations from online, text-messaging or real-world sources.

Cellphone texting was once the biggest single source of unwanted solicitations, but more recently the trend has moved into a higher-tech realm with the sudden explosion in QR codes — the scannable checkered patterns generated by smartphones for cashless purchases and frequently seen on ads and other promotional materials for those seeking more information.

The two-minute viral video making the rounds depicts the 17-year-old, surnamed Zhang, swearing at a couple of females about his age on the Beijing subway after they asked him to scan a QR code on their smartphones in a bid to sell products. Such high-tech tactics from solicitors have become common on Chinese subways, where today’s panhandlers often tote their own karaoke machines and sound systems to better make their cases to indifferent commuters.

When one of the salesgirls in the video tries to ignore the boy’s rant, he angrily snatches her smartphone and refuses to give it back. A back-and-forth battle for the phone ensues, ending with the boy shoving her out of the subway car through the door just as it closes at a stop.

The video quickly went viral, with netizens and ordinary citizens mostly expressing outrage at the boy’s extreme reaction and bullying tactics. Beijing police investigated the matter and subsequently slapped him with a five-day detention, but they suspended the punishment after he expressed remorse and apologized, and also because he is a minor.

The police also noted that the two salesgirls’ behavior violated subway rules, and said their employers had been contacted and they were being educated about permissible subway behavior.

On Tuesday the video was one of the top 10 discussion topics on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, where it was the subject of more than 130,000 search queries under the category “Beijing subway cursing incident.”

“I think the man’s reaction was too extreme, that he was making it into a major incident for no real reason,” said Li Mengxin, a Shanghai student who saw the video. She added the boy was using his advantage as a male, and also the fact that the two females were probably originally from outside Beijing, to bully them. “He seized on his own strength advantage to grab the phone and push them around, which is already in violation of the law, so he should have been detained. I don’t think it’s enough that he apologized.”

Another Shanghai student, Chen Weicheng, concurred. “The man’s behavior was very coarse and lacking in civility,” he said.

Others were equally indignant, but expressed more sympathy for the boy.

“The two women were at fault. What right do they have to persistently harass other people with their QR sales codes?” said one Weibo user named Wangzhetiankongdenvhaizinvhaizi. “But the guy’s behavior was also unnecessary. … I suspect the guy exploded because he couldn’t take it anymore, so we shouldn’t just criticize him individually.”

Another Weibo user named Qiu Yangyang was less sympathetic to the women: “This kind of outcome is very satisfying. They should punish the salespeople too; otherwise, it’s just too much of a nuisance.”

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)