Don't stick your chopsticks in your rice like that

At the dinner table, the little boy got tired of eating. He complained loudly, "Every day eat rice, vegetables, meat; rice, vegetables, meat.. Why can't we have pizza and california roll like my friend John? His maid comes to school with a lunch box and every day it is something different.."

His grandmother looked at him kindly and said, "Ah boy, you are very lucky already. Last time we only got to eat chicken once a year during Chinese New Year. Now you can have chicken every day. You must count your blessings!"

The little boy wasn't convinced and stuck his chopsticks straight into his bowl of rice.



A look of pain passed through grandma's eyes. She said softly, "Ah boy, don't stick your chopsticks in your rice like that."

The little boy opened his mouth to continue complaining when he noticed his gramdmother's face. So he quickly shut his mouth and took out the chopsticks, and ate his rice quietly.



After a few minutes, his grandmother explained, "Ah boy, you're a good boy. Maybe when you get to my age you'll understand why I asked you to take out the chopsticks, or maybe not. The older you get, the more you remember, and it becomes easier for ordinary things to trigger images of pain, grief and superstition. Do you know what I mean?"

The little boy had no clue what his grandmother was going on about, but he nodded his head respectfully, and ate his rice, like his mother, his mother's mother, and his mother's mother's mother...