They pile on top of each other like raked leaves. Each one exactly like the others until you look more closely. Every autumn before the autumnal equinox they pile up in piles that are neat at first but quickly dilapidate into messy ones. They get straightened overnight only to crumble once more like democracy under an egotistic leader. They can be incredibly expensive and just as delicious. I speak of course, of mooncakes.
We once made the costly $4.75 mistake of buying two packs of mooncakes. At the Ranch 99 market, you have the "designer" mooncakes, and then you have the "generic off-brand" mooncakes. One pack of four generic mini mooncakes cost $4.75. I remember once seeing an eight-pack of designer mooncakes that cost around $50. So of course we bought the generic ones. when we visited our grandmother and grandfather in Los Altos, California, we were a family of six. So we thought to get two packs of four mooncakes. Because they were mini mooncakes everyone could have one and we would have two left over. It seemed perfectly rational. So of course we were wrong.
We brought them home and showed them to Grandma Pearl, who in her creaky old person voice exclaimed how it was her favorite food, asked how we knew, and explained all about how she used to eat them in Hong Kong. When the time came to eat them, she chose one pack, opened it, took them out, and cut them into fourths. let me remind you that they were mini mooncakes.
"No no no, Grandma Pearl. everyone can have their own." we tried to explain. But she was adamant that they be cut up. It was just how it was done. So in the end, we ended up only eating one pack. Funny, isn't it, how you always seem to eat less then you thought you would.
YOU ARE READING
the A.B.C.s of it all
Short Storya collection of short stories, some of them my own experiences, and some of them conglomerates of many peoples of experiences, about what it's like to be ABC (American Born Chinese) or otherwise Asian in America. (whether it is my experience or a co...
