More than a decade after my first faltering attempts to get connected to "those internets" using Spry's Internet In A Box, I've become a little jaded about the wonder of the web's interconnectedness. But every once in a while, I still find myself marveling at how Al Gore's creation has brought the world closer together.
Case in point: I was working my way through my blogroll and several twists of the rabbit hole later found myself at Pink Ginger's Sketch of Life 珂琳随笔: Why Must I Eat With the 2 Sticks ??. A native of China who doesn't take eating with chopsticks as a given? Mon Dieu! Who would have dreamed of such a thing?
As a fledgling Foo-let, back in the '60s, it was not uncommon for me to find myself scowling into a plate of chipped beef on toast (a.k.a., "s--- on a shingle") or staring down the barrel of a stuffed green pepper. On those occasions when I dared to think I might simply wait Mom out and sneak away from the table, she was quick with the standby admonition that so many of my generation heard: "There are starving children in China who would love to have that food."
"Can't we just send it to them?" I said, taking a philanthropic tack. But Mom wasn't buying it.
"How do you know that Chinese kids even eat this kind of... of... stuff?" I parried, hoping a social studies/world geography approach might work. It didn't.
In the end, I tended to find myself sitting alone at the table, mournfully picking my dinner into smaller and smaller pieces in the vain hope that they'd go down easier that way. It was at such times that I wondered if some Chinese kid was sitting at his table, with something I liked on his plate and wishing he could find a way out of eating it.
I wish I was a Chinese kid, I thought. 'Cause if I had to eat with chopsticks, it would be a whole lot easier to get away with dropping a lot of this stuffed pepper on the floor for the dog to eat—and get away with it.
6 comments:
There was that one time when my sister and I were both stuck and the table with our stuffed peppers, and I decided to take one for the team. While Mom was temporarily occupied outside with one of the neighbor ladies, I sneaked to the bathroom with both our peppers and attempted to flush them. Unfortunately, I hadn't counted on how buoyant they were. They wouldn't go down, and I was busted.
Mmmm, love stuffed peppers. Or I did, until just a minute ago. 8-}
They're not the exact same peppers, Gwynne. I like them too, now, but I hated the taste of them when I was a kid.
There was probably some little asian boy thinking, "Cause if I had to eat with a fork, it would be a whole lot easier..." at the same time.
Okay... that was good. I never had to eat stuffed peppers but I DO remember... uh... APPLESAUCE!!!
Tink: You could be right, but I would imagine using a fork would hurt Asian Boy's cause more than help it. Except for when chasing peas around the plate, it's just a lot easier forking your food.
About those peas. One could always take a cue from my grandpa, who used what I refer to as The Tar Baby Maneuver. He mixed his peas and corn right in with his mashed potatoes so they couldn't escape. It was a little shocking to witness, but as Grandpa was quick to point out, "It's all going to the same place."
Anne: Yes, applesauce would be a bit of a challenge with chopsticks, wouldn't it?
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