how's the food in new york?

hwubby and i walk into the oakland chinatown store where we get lottery tickets and restaurant tips. the store owner and his wife work all day and eat out all the time. so they know what's good and what's new. anyway the owner takes one look at hwubby who is on walker and says, what's up, man? hwubby says, i got knocked down by a taxi in new york city. the owner blinks, his facial expression unchanged. his wife looks up from the cash register and says, her facial expression also unchanged, how's the food in new york? now, back to suk wah. what's my reaction? lo and behold, all that goes through my mind is this. o, dear, i don't know, i didn't have anything other than hospital food, gee, i screwed up. a little while later we are no longer in the store. hwubby says, did you hear what she say? i say, yeaaah. hwubby says, chinese really don't want to talk about anything negative, or anything that has to do with emotions. i say, yeaah, we don't really talk about anything, period. meanwhile it dawns on me that i just had a moment where i was chewed up by a residual tendency. okay, time to let it go.