At the beginning of this month, a child from Guangdong forgot his watch in a paper garbage bag on a high-speed train. His parents used location tracking and found out that the watch was at Nanshan Station in Datong City, Shanxi, and may have been treated as trash. Datong Xincheng Environmental Company urgently transported the garbage to the landfill of the garbage incineration power plant. Two sanitation workers spent 4 hours in high temperatures, sifting through 8 tons of trash, and finally found the watch, causing a stir in public opinion.
According to the report by Shanxi Evening News, on July 1st, Ms. Lu from Shenzhen and her family took a high-speed train from Taiyuan to Datong. When they got off the train, they accidentally left a children’s watch in a clean paper garbage bag. The location showed that the watch was at Datong South Station. She deduced that the watch had been treated as garbage. The next morning, Ms. Lu called the 12345 hotline for help from the Datong City Urban Management Bureau.
Datong Xincheng Environmental Company tracked and confirmed that the watch had entered the transfer station’s compactor along with the garbage, but there were about 8 tons of garbage in the container. The company urgently transferred the garbage to an open space at the Fuqiao garbage incineration power plant.
The report mentioned that two sanitation workers, disregarding the filth, searched through the garbage pile by hand. After more than 4 hours of effort, around 4:50 pm that day, the lost watch was finally found in the mountainous pile of trash and returned to Ms. Lu that same evening.
After the report was posted online, it caused a stir. On July 13th, a journalist from “Red Star News” called the superior department of the sanitation company, the Datong City Urban Management Bureau. The staff responded that there have been precedents of helping citizens find lost items before, and this case was not a special exception.
Deputy Director Xiao Zhigang of the Datong City Urban Management Bureau stated, “What is worth doing and what is not? This is what we should do. Don’t place it too high, or too low. As long as the people have needs, we will definitely do it.”
Technology blogger and Weibo influencer “Lu Xixin” commented, “This is not a heartwarming story, it’s a disgusting accident. Officials who use this as a political achievement are simply deranged. For the sake of a children’s watch, making sanitation workers rummage through 8 tons of garbage in sweltering heat for 4 hours, aren’t sanitation workers human beings? Who wouldn’t want to curse loudly after seeing this?”
Netizens expressed their views, “If Deputy Director Xiao Zhigang spends 4 hours sifting through 8 tons of garbage in high temperatures, then I have nothing to say.” “In the scorching weather, the garbage pile not only risks heatstroke but also emits fermenting toxic gases, pathogenic bacteria, and viruses. If you lose something, find it yourself without anyone saying a word, let the two grassroots laborers find it unless there is corresponding risk-associated return. Otherwise, don’t bother, this is not within the sanitation workers’ job scope. Director, you should lead by example if you are so generous with your words.”
Car blogger and Weibo influencer “Yudianke” said, “According to online rumors, the background of this Shenzhen woman seems extraordinary. If that’s true, then perhaps the seemingly unusual actions of so many departments in Datong such as the police station, 12345, urban management, and tourism can be better explained.”
Netizens commented, “Some say she is Ms. Lu from the Shenzhen Commission for Discipline Inspection. If it’s true, everything seems more logically explained.” “Two interesting points, apparently working for the Commission for Discipline Inspection, voluntarily taking front-page news as positive publicity.”
“In fact, many things just require a return to ‘common sense’, using your brain can make a difference.”