Weird… But True!

I was working a crappy retail job at a pretty major arts and crafts store during the Christmas season. On this particular day I was drumming away the hours by unloading boxes of Christmas décor. I had started to sift through a box filled with crudely made Rudolph and Santa Claus tree ornaments when I noticed something out of place. Among the grinning faces of St. Nick and his reindeer was a photograph of a woman. I picked a forgotten ID card out of the mess of ornaments. The ID was still in its plastic protective carrier with the metal alligator clip attached. The woman’s facial expression is essentially blank. Sometimes there is a hint of sadness or joy depending on what mood I am in when I am looking at her. She’s wearing a red pullover and looks like she is standing in front of some rusted fence. The woman’s name, “Wang Mei Hua,” and the company, “Hing Tat Cheong Plastic (Shen Zhen) Co., Ltd.” are all in English, everything else including the text on the back is in Chinese. Beside her ID were a few paper bills that were quickly snatched up by my co-workers. 

I felt immediately guilty about finding the ID card. I was afraid the woman had gotten in trouble for losing part of her uniform. The collection of money just confused the situation even more. What could have happened to where she would have lost a fist full of bills AND her ID card? I wanted to find a way to send it back to her, but I was not savvy enough to use maps.google.com to find the address at the time. All I was left with was this sinking feeling that this woman had spent probably a few days fretting and searching for her lost ID and cash.

I also started to realize the huge disassociation between what items are in a store and where they came from. Hundreds of people were going to buy those stupid Santa and Rudolph ornaments and have no idea where they were made or who was making them.

I decided to make a scan and see maybe if anyone can interpret the Chinese and maybe reveal a little bit more about the woman in the picture? I did a little bit of internet detective work and found out the company is located in Hong Kong. Here’s a picture of the building:

And here is the ID:

Front:

Back:

- Courtney