[Rumor]

Sorry I’m 25 years late - I got on the wrong bus to go shopping-News-World-Asia-TimesOnline

Poor lady. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to live the last 25 years of my life unable to communicate.

I would think that if I was in a similar situation, that I'd find a map and point to where I am from. Then again, the possiblity of her having little education is pretty good.

[Big Mac]

Quite sad. Methinks there are a few too many languages in the world.

[Eriamjh]

Kinda stupid. Couldn't find a phone?

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

Kinda stupid. Couldn't find a phone?

For some reason, I think the family might not have had the luxury of a phone at the time.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

Kinda stupid. Couldn't find a phone?

Didn't read the article did you?

[Railroader]

Sad story.

You'd think after 25 years she'd learn the local language a little bit.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Sad story.

You'd think after 25 years she'd learn the local language a little bit.

I was kinda thinking the same thing too. If you spend 25 years around a foriegn language, you'd think something would picked up.

[Gamoe]

At the risk of sounding callous, I'll say I don't buy this. Any normal person (of at least normal intelligence) should be able to get back home even if they wind up in a random city, as log as they are not imprisoned or killed. If you told me that she got on the wrong bus and then she was imprisoned shortly after getting off it would be a different story.

But, you're going to tell me that this woman couldn't find her way back home after spending months in a city, where she was free to do as she pleased?

She could have pointed at a map, drawn out what she wanted and where she lived, written her home's address, visited the airport, port, or any place of transportation, visited her or another embassy, found a translation dictionary or any number of things to communicate with others and find her way back home. She had enough time to check out where all the buses went!

And then others not bothering to find out this woman's language or what she wanted? Forgive me, but there seems to have been a case of incredible stupidity on both sides.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Gamoe 

At the risk of sounding callous, I'll say I don't buy this. Any normal person (of at least normal intelligence) should be able to get back home even if they wind up in a random city, as log as they are not imprisoned or killed. If you told me that she got on the wrong bus and then she was imprisoned shortly after getting off it would be a different story.

But, you're going to tell me that this woman couldn't find her way back home after spending months in a city, where she was free to do as she pleased?

She could have pointed at a map, drawn out what she wanted and where she lived, written her home's address, visited the airport, port, or any place of transportation, visited her or another embassy, found a translation dictionary or any number of things to communicate with others and find her way back home. She had enough time to check out where all the buses went!

And then others not bothering to find out this woman's language or what she wanted? Forgive me, but there seems to have been a case of incredible stupidity on both sides.

Read the story. I doubt this person has ever seen a map or even has a mailing address.

I don't know if I'd say "stupidity" on both sides, but certainly ignorance.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Gamoe 

At the risk of sounding callous, I'll say I don't buy this. Any normal person (of at least normal intelligence) should be able to get back home even if they wind up in a random city, as log as they are not imprisoned or killed. If you told me that she got on the wrong bus and then she was imprisoned shortly after getting off it would be a different story.

But, you're going to tell me that this woman couldn't find her way back home after spending months in a city, where she was free to do as she pleased?

She could have pointed at a map, drawn out what she wanted and where she lived, written her home's address, visited the airport, port, or any place of transportation, visited her or another embassy, found a translation dictionary or any number of things to communicate with others and find her way back home. She had enough time to check out where all the buses went!

And then others not bothering to find out this woman's language or what she wanted? Forgive me, but there seems to have been a case of incredible stupidity on both sides.

If some random homeless person who didn't speak English (or any other language you might speak) came up to you, would you think to pull out a map and try to find out where they were from so they could get home?

[Atomic Rooster]

I'd say she was mentally challenged or as Merkans like to say 'retarded'.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster 

I'd say she was mentally challenged or as Merkans like to say 'retarded'.

The irony.

[Atomic Rooster]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

The irony.

Wanna be more clear on what you mean please?

Cuz I don't get it.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster 

Wanna be more clear on what you mean please?

Cuz I don't get it.

Exactly. You have proven my point. Don't worry, others will get it.

[dcmacdaddy]

Has everyone commenting read the story? This woman got lost going on a "normal" shopping day-trip. At the time she was 51 and had 8 children, the youngest who was 10. How could she function so as to be traveling to another town to go shopping and not know where she lives? Maybe I can't grasp the simplicity of living in a small town in a less-developed country, but how can you function as a human and not know how to communicate something about yourself to another person. Heck, she could have used mimicry to express herself if needed.

Something just doesn't seem right about this that makes me skeptical that her disappearance was an accident, that she didn't want to disappear.

[Atomic Rooster]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Exactly. You have proven my point. Don't worry, others will get it.

Well, explain it to then. Stand and deliver or be silent.

Or maybe you are confused and don't know yourself what you mean?

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster 

Well, explain it to then. Stand and deliver or be silent.

Or maybe you are confused and don't know yourself what you mean?

It is really rather simple. But from what you have made clear to me here, I would definately be wasting my time.

Cheers,

[Atomic Rooster]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

It is really rather simple. But from what you have made clear to me here, I would definately be wasting my time.

Cheers,

OK, waste a minute of your time and make it clear what you meant. You can't make a post that makes no sense and not explain it if you are asked. That just isn't right.

[keekeeree]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Quite sad. Methinks there are a few too many languages in the world.

[Atomic Rooster]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

It is really rather simple. But from what you have made clear to me here, I would definately be wasting my time.

Cheers,

Still waiting.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster 

OK, waste a minute of your time and make it clear what you meant. You can't make a post that makes no sense and not explain it if you are asked. That just isn't right.

It made sense to me and I

[Jim Paradise]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

If some random homeless person who didn't speak English (or any other language you might speak) came up to you, would you think to pull out a map and try to find out where they were from so they could get home?

In the summertime, an old lady (in her late 60s, I think?) walking her dog stopped my girlfriend. She spoke only German, but somehow managed to get across that she was lost. My girlfriend tried to help her find a number in the phonebook of a relative, but that didn't work out. Luckily my mom speaks German, so my girlfriend gave her a ring (I was writing a final at the time), and my mom came and picked up the lady and her dog.

What had happened was that the woman had just arrived from Germany two days before to stay with her son and his new wife. She had taken the dog out for a walk, but strayed too far from their house. Normally the dog would have a collar with the address on it, but for some reason it didn't have it that day. On top of it all, the couple hadn't changed the last name in the phone book, and it was in the wife's last name, which the lady didn't know. The lady had a vague description of where the house was - something about a river being by it. Having figured that the lady couldn't have walked too far from the house, my mom stayed within a certain area and spent over a half hour driving around asking, "Do you remember this?" with the repeated response, "No."

Eventually they got to a street where the lady said to turn right, but mom knew they'd loop around an area they had already been, so she took a left, and it clicked where the house likely was. Still, "No, no..." until the lady finally said, "There!" only a few houses away from where she was. The wife and a friend were out front apparently looking incredibly worried, and were beyond relief when my mom chirped up "oma's home!"

Anyway, I realize that's slightly different as my mom spoke the same language as the lady, but I don't think it would be so unusual for someone, especially if they had a map, to find some help.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Jim Paradise 

In the summertime, an old lady (in her late 60s, I think?) walking her dog stopped my girlfriend. She spoke only German, but somehow managed to get across that she was lost. My girlfriend tried to help her find a number in the phonebook of a relative, but that didn't work out. Luckily my mom speaks German, so my girlfriend gave her a ring (I was writing a final at the time), and my mom came and picked up the lady and her dog.

What had happened was that the woman had just arrived from Germany two days before to stay with her son and his new wife. She had taken the dog out for a walk, but strayed too far from their house. Normally the dog would have a collar with the address on it, but for some reason it didn't have it that day. On top of it all, the couple hadn't changed the last name in the phone book, and it was in the wife's last name, which the lady didn't know. The lady had a vague description of where the house was - something about a river being by it. Having figured that the lady couldn't have walked too far from the house, my mom stayed within a certain area and spent over a half hour driving around asking, "Do you remember this?" with the repeated response, "No."

Eventually they got to a street where the lady said to turn right, but mom knew they'd loop around an area they had already been, so she took a left, and it clicked where the house likely was. Still, "No, no..." until the lady finally said, "There!" only a few houses away from where she was. The wife and a friend were out front apparently looking incredibly worried, and were beyond relief when my mom chirped up "oma's home!"

Anyway, I realize that's slightly different as my mom spoke the same language as the lady, but I don't think it would be so unusual for someone, especially if they had a map, to find some help.

How big of a city do you live in? Is there much of a homeless problem? I really don't see that happening in a large city like San Francisco, Boston, or Shanghai (the large cities I've lived in). And this lady ended up in Bangkok, which is definitely comparable to those, and later in Chiang Mai which is another large city and, being close to the Burmese border and, as the article alludes to, having plenty of poor tribes in the area, is also the sort of place where you're going to have a ton of homeless/beggers, and people who tend to just ignore them especially when they're speaking an unfamiliar language, especially those with darker skin as, even in Asia, that tends to be a major cause of discrimination.

Keep in mind that there's very little chance that the majority of people in Bangkok or Chiang Mai, especially those that are going to come into contact with random homeless beggars, will have ever been to Malaysia or heard Malaysian.

[badidea]

Originally Posted by Rumor 

Sorry I’m 25 years late - I got on the wrong bus to go shopping-News-World-Asia-TimesOnline

Hey, I did the exact same trip a few years ago! Now I am glad that I made it even though I didn't speak any of the local languages!

[Oisín]

Also, there’s the added difference that, although your girlfriend doesn’t speak German herself, the German language should be fairly easily recognisable to most Canadians; Jawi (or Yawi), however, is a very quirky dialect of Malay, which would only even be recognisable in areas of Thailand close to the border; in Bangkok, and much more so in Chiang Mai, it would be as likely to be recognised as it would in Birmingham.

[Tiresias]

To accept this story--as reported--it is necessary to postulate that

a) She suffers from morbid stupidity.

or

b) She is as culturally and socially naive as an orangoutang.

25 years is long enough to learn any language by osmosis--or certainly long enough to solve the problem of how to get home. Movies have been made about family pets making more difficult journeys.

No no no. She's taking us for fools.

Think about it. Looking after 8 kids, or riding the pig's back in a government funded hostel? Which would you choose?

(By the way, Atomic Rooster: I think Railroader is saying Merkans are retarded. Now you can sleep at night).

[Eug]

I don't completely buy the story either as reported.

[Sealobo]

ar... why not get back onto the same freaken bus station where she got off?

[driven]

Originally Posted by Gamoe 

At the risk of sounding callous, I'll say I don't buy this. Any normal person (of at least normal intelligence) should be able to get back home even if they wind up in a random city, as log as they are not imprisoned or killed. If you told me that she got on the wrong bus and then she was imprisoned shortly after getting off it would be a different story.

But, you're going to tell me that this woman couldn't find her way back home after spending months in a city, where she was free to do as she pleased?

She could have pointed at a map, drawn out what she wanted and where she lived, written her home's address, visited the airport, port, or any place of transportation, visited her or another embassy, found a translation dictionary or any number of things to communicate with others and find her way back home. She had enough time to check out where all the buses went!

And then others not bothering to find out this woman's language or what she wanted? Forgive me, but there seems to have been a case of incredible stupidity on both sides.

I generally agree with the points that were made here, but let me play devil's advocate:

- We are assuming that she had a basic education.
- We are assuming that she even knew what a map was in order to point.
- We are assuming that she even knew the shape of Thailand, or what North/South/East/West were.

My bigger question is why stay on a bus 8 hours when you know your town is 15 minutes away. After 30 minutes I'd be leaping off the bus. At least then I would be lost, but not quite so far away. (Unless I fell asleep on the bus )

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by driven 

My bigger question is why stay on a bus 8 hours when you know your town is 15 minutes away. After 30 minutes I'd be leaping off the bus. At least then I would be lost, but not quite so far away. (Unless I fell asleep on the bus )

And even after staying on the bus the whole time, shouldn't someone else on that bus have spoken her language since they were coming from the same place?

[driven]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

And even after staying on the bus the whole time, shouldn't someone else on that bus have spoken her language since they were coming from the same place?

Not necessarily. They are a small minority in the south. It's similar to expecting someone to speak Cherokee even if you both took the same bus from the casino. (I know, at least here in the USA the Indian would have spoken English too. It's easy to plug holes in anything we come up with.)