If you'd somehow gotten the impression that I wasn't a huge fan of mid-level media official, congratulations on being substantially more perceptive than her!

Prone to doing things like sneezing at meals without making the slightest attempt at turning her head or covering her mouth, I also noticed—performative¹ though it would have been on account of said public bathroom having no soap—that she didn't even do things like splash her hands with water after going to the loo.

She also—rather like a toddler assisting with bringing groceries in from the car—had this very determined insistence that she be allowed to help - whether or not such help was needed, wanted, or the slightest bit useful. 

Starting with throwing me wildly off balance by grabbing a quick release pannier² from my bike as I was midway through carrying it up the grandiloquent entry stairs to her office building, this continued through not allowing me to operate the washing machine; trying to insist on hanging my clothes to dry for me when she was drunk; constantly attempting to force unwanted food and drink on everyone in the car who was not actively engaged in putting something in their mouth; and—for the cherry on the sundae³—while at the Qingdao Municipal Museum bitching about who was going to push my wheelchair despite, as soon as "museum" had come up in the planning, a lengthy conversation on topics such as 1) I am handicapped, 2) how and why and to what degree I am handicapped, 3) that I don't have a Disability Card from the government and don't see the point in getting one 4) where and when I use wheelchairs and 5) anyone⁴ who touches a wheelchair once I'm in it risks my finding a knife and stabbing them.

Partly because I move fast, partly because I made a point of not being anywhere near her while in the museum, and partly because I slapped her hand - hard - the one time she reached out for a handle⁵, she never actually touched the 'chair. But, she tried!

And not only did she actually fucking try to touch my fucking 'chair after I had made a huge production of making it very clear that once I had a 'chair, the 'chair is inviolate and you don't fucking touch it, she actually had the fucking audacity to complain that my being in the 'chair was going to make things difficult on account of one of the able-bodied adults needing to be pushing me (instead of helping wrangle the pair of children who were old enough and educated to need zero supervision while in a museum) while I was in the 'chair that no one but me is supposed to touch 

I realize that, for some people, performatively being seen as being good or helpful⁶ is important, but listening to what other people say on topics of basic bodily autonomy (i.e., "I don't want to drink more beer," "I'm not hungry," or "keep your filthy hands off my mobility aids") is also really, really damn important.

The museum was good. Large enough to have interesting exhibits, small enough that the warm spots on my long since uncallused hands weren't at risk of blistering.

The drive back to Zibo—which she was unfortunately awake for—was less good. I particularly disliked the bit after the mister dropped us at her car and I had to talk to and with her on topics like how she admires my frugality and ability to find interest in things that don't have pricey entry tickets and how she and her husband just blow money on not particularly edifying, interesting or memorable excursions⁷ and meals⁸ and her wanting to change this behavior but not knowing how⁹.

However, although I had actually meant for it to be "so that I can go and visit with Sansa" and not "so that I can keep biking", it had already been agreed upon that I'd been getting back to my bike on Monday and the very limited time left of my needing to smile† as I interacted with her  made it possible for me to do so.

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¹ I make no pretense to thinking that the splash of water after peeing actually cleans my hands and I'm not particularly good about carrying hand sanitizer, but—even when no one is watching and especially when anyone else is—I still go through the motions of acting as if it does something. 

² The quick release functionality of Vaude Panniers is probably the only thing I don't like about them. Unlike the KranGear panniers where you rotate a small plastic lock in place on the hooks and can't get the bags off without knowing to reverse that lock, these snap into place and come off with a sharp tug on the handle. Unfortunately, in addition to also randomly unlocking on the kind of super bumpy roads where it's critical that your panniers stay in place on the pannier rail, it is possible to accidentally catch the unlock handle in the lock when loading up in the morning ... which then makes getting them off at all really, really hard.

³ This idiom, like "icing on the cake", is the good thing that makes something pleasant better rather than the bad thing that makes something icky worse that's what I want to say, and I can't decide if my inability to find the right phrase is on account of Covid-brain or because said idiom doesn't exist in English.

⁴ On account of having bosses who expect to see them pushing me (and sometimes having wheels that I can't reach), airport wheelchair attendants are the only exception to this rule and, even then, I will try to convince them to please let me push myself.

⁵ I had completely forgotten all about visiting a museum in Hainan (that didn't have a 'chair I could use) with Boyfriend until I was relating this to him and he parroted back my standard Warning to Non-Stupid Chinese Friends about this being equivalent to picking up someone's feet for them and forcing them to walk.

⁶ Which is not at all the same as good or helpful

⁷ Rather like the one we'd just been on

⁸ Like the Ningxia-style hotpot dinner we had that evening

⁹ Speaking as a non car driver to a car driver, might I suggest starting with getting hotels more than 200m away from major tourist attractions? Or, booking earlier than 5pm on a day when you already know your destination?

† Networking and hobnobbing with people I don't find fun are two of my most hated aspects of being a business owner.