George Bilainkin, the multi-lingual Polish-Jewish editor the Strait Echo of Penang in the early 1930s made some astute observations on board his ship from England to the port of Penang. He noted the peculiar the way people behave at the first class six course dinner. The very people who had never been served a sumptuous meal back home are the very people who had so much complains about the service and the food!
Then a few hand raising at the waiter for their meals to be delivered quick. The way they pissed off the staff with their behaviour, I wonder what special additives were added to their dish to get back at them. In between of their gobbling of the chow, a few requests for sauces and seasonings. And again.
The excitement of the day must have ended with the haggling of the bill. "No, we did not order this and that. I cannot pay for that. Not fair!"
Their departure must have been a sigh of relief for the men and women of the working class variety at that restaurant. They had had enough excitement for a night. What they cannot understand is why somethings are never enough for some people. They console themselves by telling themselves that variety is the spice of life. You win some and lose some. Were they scared of being fleeced just like how they did to others as they tried to scale life? Or was the world so unforgiving that they saw conmen at every corner and it was payback time? Or just simply that they wanted to announce to the world that they have arrived and they did it their way, just like Frankie did? The nouve rich. And a small fraction of them can be a nagging pain in the you know where, neck!
 |
| Very much around us! |
Now how often we have seen this...
Just the other day, whilst deeply engaged in my meal with family at a cosy upmarket eatery, I had the pleasure of a family joining an adjacent table. Apparently they had arrived later than the pre-arranged time. No, there were not happy with the sitting arrangements. After much bargaining, they settled in amidst much pomp and pandemonium. No, they brought their own cake and they could not be paying extra charges for serving as the primary aim of their visit was to celebrate a family member's special day. "Okay, okay, we will waive that,"said the captain. "Happy birthday!"
After much commotion, the main course was ordered. Of course, they had special requests on their orders. They wanted this in and that out, this done that way and that done that way. Somehow, the ordering got out of the way after much hullabaloo. And their conversation got louder. Wait, were they arguing?
Just the other day, whilst deeply engaged in my meal with family at a cosy upmarket eatery, I had the pleasure of a family joining an adjacent table. Apparently they had arrived later than the pre-arranged time. No, there were not happy with the sitting arrangements. After much bargaining, they settled in amidst much pomp and pandemonium. No, they brought their own cake and they could not be paying extra charges for serving as the primary aim of their visit was to celebrate a family member's special day. "Okay, okay, we will waive that,"said the captain. "Happy birthday!"
After much commotion, the main course was ordered. Of course, they had special requests on their orders. They wanted this in and that out, this done that way and that done that way. Somehow, the ordering got out of the way after much hullabaloo. And their conversation got louder. Wait, were they arguing?
Then a few hand raising at the waiter for their meals to be delivered quick. The way they pissed off the staff with their behaviour, I wonder what special additives were added to their dish to get back at them. In between of their gobbling of the chow, a few requests for sauces and seasonings. And again.
The excitement of the day must have ended with the haggling of the bill. "No, we did not order this and that. I cannot pay for that. Not fair!"
Their departure must have been a sigh of relief for the men and women of the working class variety at that restaurant. They had had enough excitement for a night. What they cannot understand is why somethings are never enough for some people. They console themselves by telling themselves that variety is the spice of life. You win some and lose some. Were they scared of being fleeced just like how they did to others as they tried to scale life? Or was the world so unforgiving that they saw conmen at every corner and it was payback time? Or just simply that they wanted to announce to the world that they have arrived and they did it their way, just like Frankie did? The nouve rich. And a small fraction of them can be a nagging pain in the you know where, neck!
No comments:
Post a Comment