It is the kind of request normally heard in the bellies of the beasts all around the world, i.e. the inner cities. Why? Because a regular chicken fried rice order, never has enough chicken, “more rice than anything”. Penny candy, loose cigarettes, food stamps in exchange for money. “Smokes”; “something to make it hard”.
If any of the above is alien to your life experience, you’ve never had a Chinese friend, or paid a visit to Chinatown in any part of the world.
Baltimore never really had a Chinatown. We have had, and still do, The Ghetto, and “Pigtown”. The developers of Horshoe Casino, kicked that town through the uprights, similar to what happened to the town of Babel when God confused the language; Nimrod had no army, for the phenomenon forced men to be like “crabs in a barrel”.
But back to the Chinese. What would happen if the Chinatowns throughout the United States began crumbling, as though hit by a series of earthquakes?
It is the same question playwright, LAUREN YEE asked. Chinese settlers in the United States, sent their children to American schools, many of them did not want to learn the language, did not want to run grocery stores, did not want to live behind, or above their parents stores; and when it came to having children! That may be put on hold. And then there’s INTEGRATION! Ever heard of Connie Chung, a one time famous television broadcaster! Chinese girls found here inspiring, and went Hollywood: lengthen the hair, change the shape of the eyes, more indentation to give the face a less rounded look. Pow! They did not have to marry chinese. But just travel to Jamaica, chinese and black babies abound! Byron Lee was a famous reggae artist, (Ripley’s Believe it or Not?)
The Chinese like the Italians brought their questionable money generating activities to the United States, and like the “Mob”, flourished until they found out that America is known for cowboys who do not round up horses and cattle, but criminals. This group of cowboys carry guns, badges and warrants, a.k.a. the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Cannot tell you more, see the play, KING OF THE YEES, at Center Stage Baltimore, through November 18th, 2018.
CELESTE DEN and JOE NGO, are unendingly brilliant. TONY AIDAN VO as a gay man had me fooled.
My chicken fried rice “was good” (a bow from the neck up, and not from the waist, as that would be Japanese). It had extra chicken without me asking. Did not take the soy sauce, chose another option.
Theculturepagedotcom 