Melly Christmas

Before social studies replaced history every nine-year-old knew about Marco Polo, the youth who left Venice with his father and uncle, met the Chinese Emperor Kublai Kahn and returned 24 years later, chronicling his journey in a book that stirred an interest in the East that culminated in the discovery of America. The spice routes had been established in ancient Rome as westerners sought spices from the mysterious East. From the very beginning it seems that western man was driven eastward by an innate urge, a natural and consuming biological need for Asian spices. In other words, no civilization from the glory that was Greece to the grandeur that was Roman was complete without Chinese food.

For several years I've felt a certain cultural inadequacy for my neighborhood that contains a huge gothic cathedral and a large university because notwithstanding the presence of a Dunkin Donuts and a Subway Sandwich Restaurant there was no Chinese carry-out. Last summer that inadequacy was redressed. The same Subway store that served a 490 pound Jared Fogle sandwiches until he became 200 pound company spokesman moved to a new location about two blocks down the street. After some extensive remodeling a Chinese carry-out restaurant opened in its place.

My wife and I became frequent customers and as time went on, began to become very fond of the new staff. It was hard to discern at first but we noticed there was something unique about the place. The kitchen area has been opened so anyone standing at the take-out counter can see their food being cooked. Usually a twenty something Chinese lady works the register and phone. Although she has a slight accent, the lady's grammar is perfect and I assumed up until one day she was Chinese American. On that particular day after taking my order she turned to her cooks and shouted out the order in Chinese. Like a damn fool I asked, "You speak Chinese?" Oh yes, she was born in China and obviously so were all of her cooks who are all in their teens or early twenties. The entire restaurant is run by kids! Foreign kids who seem to have an entire neighborhood lined up for whatever they are cooking.

On the good authority of my barber who has a shop just around the corner, I've learned that the young lady is probably the owner. He told me that he reckoned she must have about $500,000 invested in the place and that her mother must have financed it. Oh that explains it all. She got half a million from her mother who is fifty something and was born in China too. I'm also told the cooks are the modern day equivalents of the colonial indentured servants who work cheaply until they can pay off their airfare from China. These people take free enterprise to new high level.

On Christmas Eve my wife and I had been invited to dinner but about mid-afternoon we began to get hungry so we hopped into the car and drove to the Lincoln Garden Chinese Restaurant fairly sure they would be open since they probably had never heard of Christmas. As we were leaving with our Lo Mein the cook who was working the counter smiled and shouted "Melly Christmas" across the room and with that the three cooks busy in the kitchen turned and in almost unison wished us a "Melly Christmas"at the top of their lungs. No politically correct "Happy Holidays" from these kids but an almost lusty, full throated, roaring "Melly Christmas". I could have kissed them.

So good are Asians at business they sometimes make fools of Americans of European decent. My brother relayed a story from his neighborhood of how his neighbors looked with disdain at one neighbor who was exploiting a Vietnamese family he hired to do his yard work. Husband, wife, and children worked frantically, mowing raking and trimming his lawn. Of course no one bothered to ask the family if they felt exploited. Sentiments changed when their old truck broke down and they had to drive the family Lexus to work.