Two coffee runs and we fled back to Taiwan with our luggage — scared the Uber driver with our masks

Text and photos / Scenic Spots' Beibei Zi

2019At the end of the year, I carried two large suitcases and went alone to a community college in a city near Seattle, USA, to attend a language school. But as the saying goes, life is full of unexpected twists. Who could have imagined that before even finishing the first semester, China suddenly experienced an outbreak of Wuhan pneumonia, which then spread across the world. And, as if by fate, the very first confirmed case of Wuhan pneumonia in the entire United States happened to be right where I was — in Seattle.

As the number of confirmed Wuhan pneumonia cases in the U.S. continued to soar, the U.S. — which had initially treated the virus as no more than a regular flu — began to take this global pandemic seriously. President Trump even declared a national emergency. I even heard that afterward, Washington State, where Seattle is located, might face a state lockdown. So my Taiwanese roommate and I decided to return to Taiwan as quickly as possible, even though just a few days later, we were scheduled to take our final exams at school.

On the day of our flight, we dragged several large suitcases out the door of our rental home, ready to head to the airport. Our pre-bookedUberUber was already waiting for us at the entrance.
 

As we approached theUbercar,Uberthe driver’s expression changed drastically when he saw our masks. He took several steps back, nervously asking if we were sick. He also said he had a family to take care of and begged us not to lie to him. We immediately explained that the masks were just for self-protection and that we weren’t sick. After hearing our explanation, he could only accept it, then silently walked to the driver’s seat and pulled outN95masks and gloves, which he then put on.

 

 After we got in the car, he even took out a disinfectant spray and gave the interior a quick spray. Seeing this, I couldn't help but give a bitter smile, thinking to myself: Is this what people mean by discrimination? I felt quite uncomfortable at that moment, but on the bright side, at least the driver put on a mask — which was what we hoped for. In these extraordinary times, we’d rather face some discrimination than expose ourselves to high risks of infection.

The drive from our place to the airport took about30minutes, but that day we made it in just20minutes. The driver must have been really anxious too, just wanting to finish the trip as quickly as possible. When we arrived at the airport, we saw a sea of passengers all wearing masks. But upon closer look, you’d notice that only Asian passengers wore masks — Westerners weren’t wearing any, not even the airport staff. Honestly, it made me worry for them.

There were also no temperature checks inside the airport — everything seemed normal, except that there were noticeably fewer departing passengers. Going through security barely required queuing; it was practically empty.

 

Before boarding the plane, I felt a mix of anxiety and fear. Spending a full13hours in a confined space with so many people posed a very high risk. The only thing I could do was to rigorously follow disinfection protocols — protecting both myself and others.

As soon as I boarded the plane, I took out alcohol and gloves to disinfect my seat. I wore my mask the whole time. Even though the passengers around me were enjoying fragrant in-flight meals, I chose not to eat and tried to avoid drinking or using the restroom, all to minimize exposure to the virus. Fortunately, most of the other passengers on the same flight were also wearing masks, and no one seemed to be coughing. That helped me relax a little. I slept on and off throughout the journey, and13hours flew by.