CNY geisha

[29-310106] a most depressing CNY. family has never been a source of happiness for Pig-pig & her Cat-cat anyway.

come CNY, they hafta dress nicely + entertain (mostly) adult male strangers old enough to be their fathers + kneel at e (coffee) table to pour tea + serve food & drink + top up empty glasses + smile at all times + make small talk + hold conversation + nod politely at regular intervals + appear to express admiration & act impressed (oh wow....) at whatever is being bragged about + (try their best to) laugh politely at (flat) jokes & (sometimes bordering on lewd) comments about their looks & eyes & eyelashes & nose & hair & other features, & whose sons they should be reserved for + pretend not to notice if anyone farts or burps + discreetly offer them tissue if they have foodstains around their mouths + receive money (ang pao) from e men at e end of it all. in Pig-pig's words, be a CNY geisha

this year both of them quit ;) e men can go massage their own egos & try their best to make themselves feel good about themselves minus Pig-pig or Cat-cat's help =P it is simply too tiring. & together with other stuff (e.g. walking two paces behind e men, letting men eat their fill first before e women may sit down to eat e leftovers, etc) that Pig-pig & Cat-cat were taught from young, only helps to reduce men to pathetic helpless creatures with egos more fragile than eggshells (who will starve to death because they can't find e butter in e fridge) in their eyes.

fortunately, there were 4 kors in e same household who did their own laundry & ironing, & taught e 2 girls how to cook noodles once they were tall enough to reach e stove, giving them a more balanced impression of male-kind =P happy birthday to one of them today [18 Feb] =) unfortunately, e 4 of them also spent a lot of time swimming butterfly stroke & pumping iron in e gym, giving their 2 little meis e not-very-balanced impression that all guys (minus those adult male strangers mentioned above) come with sculpted shoulders & abs & nice deep tans....very spoil market =P

CNY is also e time for e wayward offspring of those adult male strangers to receive *KA-BISH* their annual dose of discipline courtesy of Pig-pig & Cat-cat. in previous years e brats have torn through e house bashing their way into e bedrooms (banging & kicking e doors of those that were locked), jumping & sprawling on beds, opening cupboards & drawers & helping themselves to anything they liked (including ang paos meant for others), opening up laptops & starting up computers (only to be disappointed by e absence of WC3 =P), tearing apart soft toys, trying to push one another down e stairs, stealing ang paos from other kids & then denying it, etc. not to mention e usual fighting & demands screamed at e hosts in front of all e guests HOW COME YOU ALL SO LOUSY DUN HAVE COKE ONE?!

this year one pair of brats burst into e kitchen on hearing that there was ice cream, yelling, 'WHERE IS THE ICE CREAM? SERVE ME NOW!!'

Pig-pig very calmly took e tub of ice cream, placed it on e upper shelf of e topmost freezer compartment just out of their reach, & said very sweetly to them, 'help yourselves, see what you can do now' & promptly disappeared upstairs ;)

& e hopelessly spoilt brats were so helpless without their maid that they didn't even know how to drag a chair to e refrigerator to climb up & get it. so they didn't get to find out that e ice cream was yam & coconut - a flavour deliberately chosen because most kids hate it *evil grin*

CNY 2006 was also e start of cold war #? (lost count). let's see how many months this one will last. in this society, kids are bonded to serve their parents, who expect to have e final say in any major life decisions (even if e kid is already an adult), simply because they brought them up & paid for their education. even though e kids didn't ask to be born. too many dreams have been sacrificed, & how long more do e kids hafta wait before they can finally lead their own lives? wait for e day e parents finally drop dead? hope to be born to another family with a different thinking in their next lives? hope not to be born as girls again in their next lives?

emotional blackmail is useless on pigs & cats, who know very well e source of a large part of their food & clothing & hospital bills during e early years (& are grateful to other people's parents for that), & e feeling of e kinda hunger that cannot be staved off by drinking any more tap water. most of e physical scars may have faded, but emotional abuse isn't something that can be undone nor denied. & when you tell other parents that 孩子不能打 (kids should not be beaten) in front of pigs & cats, it cuts really, really deep. it has been said many times, forgive (even if it is forgiving someone for something that he refuses to admit he has done) but not - never - forget, lest e mistake be repeated.

uni years were e happiest for Pig-pig & Cat-cat as they could live away from e house that is not a home, even if it meant sleeping on e floor on campus - something they were used to anyway since they didn't have beds to sleep on until August 1987. although all good times come to an end & they had to move back, they continue to work towards their dream of having their own homes that nobody can throw/lock them out of. & as they continue to work around whatever sh*t that lies in their paths & pursue whatever they can of their dreams in spite of all e restrictions, deep in their hearts their childhood dream of running away remains burning strong =)

[ filed under: 9_lives_2006 + thewonderingstraycat ]