Memoirs of an Ice-Cream Lady (Part 5)
By Emily Ho
Editor’s Note: The author runs an ice-cream parlor on Hong Kong’s Lamma Island. When time allows, she draws caricatures and writes. The following are semi-autobiographical anecdotes blending fact and fiction.
Is It Normal To Be Crazy?
It was one of the busiest weekends since the new ice-cream shop had opened. The place was packed with customers.
As Emily took a break in the restroom, she heard a lady yelling out in the shop: “Why do you have to help the ice-cream lady to fix her computer? She has money to run her shop. Surely, she can afford to hire someone for repairs! How dare you help her? Why are you so enthusiastic towards her?”
When Emily returned to investigate, she saw a middle-aged Lamma lady gesturing animatedly while tongue-lashing her husband. Calmly, Emily told the woman, “If you want to lecture your own husband, please go home and do it. There are many customers here, and I have a business to run.”
Suddenly speechless, the woman dragged her husband to the door. Together, they left the shop as the customers watched in astonishment.
In fact, Emily knew the middle-aged couple slightly, and they’d seemed normal enough. But the woman’s words astonished her.
The husband had stopped at the shop before and returned volunteering to help Emily to fix the computer. After all, Emily has a handicap with hi-tech and electrical works. She interpreted his move as a goodwill gesture to help a neighbor. Emily didn’t believe he’d shown interest in her as the wife claimed.
Later Emily encountered the same man on the street, and he apologized for what his wife had said. But in Emily’s mind, the woman had changed into someone she no longer knew.
“Is it normal to be crazy?” Emily mused as she walked home by herself.
Is It Crazy To Be Normal?
Emily did make some lasting friendships after opening the ice-cream shop. But she made some “enemies” first.
One evening as Emily was about to close the shop, an eccentric Lamma Islander arrived and chatted about the caricatures that Emily had drawn and placed on display for her friends. This person claimed to be a Lamma artist whereas Emily simply drew caricatures for fun, therefore technically being “an amateur”.
As they talked, Emily joked that she might wish to become an artist someday. Suddenly, the visitor turned sullen and abruptly left the shop.
Such a strange reaction bewildered Emily, but she continued cleaning the shop. Then the same person re-appeared at the threshold, stomped on the floor and shouted, “How dare you want to become an artist? You’ll never be an artist!”
One small joke had caused such a big reaction. Emily began to wonder if she posed a threat to certain local people.
For Emily, opening the shop had realized a childhood dream. She’d never anticipated such oddball incidents.
As Long as the Toilet Is New, It Smells Good
Vivid Cantonese expressions often deserve admiration. They may seem rude, but can be very graphic and powerful. One expression, “As long as the toilet is new, it smells good”, applies to Emily’s early days in business.
Things went well (not smelly, of course) because the shop was new to the locals. Some children easily collected 10 purchase stamps to redeem as free ice-cream cones within a month. Some adults, who never before patronized an ice-cream parlor, bought ice cream that cost more than double the price of regular ice cream at the grocery stores. Those were the good old days.
As time passed, especially with winter approaching and the shop’s concept no longer new, business dwindled. Emily wondered if she should blame the two Chinese women who had come to shout at her and ruined the shop’s good “feng shui”.
Coming soon:
Meet the 'Ghost Men'
(more Memoirs of an Ice-Cream Lady).
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