The Straw Man

It seems like each day brings new surprises. Breakfast this morning was no exception. The restaurant in the hotel serves a western style buffet and we walked around the buffet with Abigail pointing out what she wanted. One of the things she selected was a container of yogurt.

Halfway through the meal she picked up the yogurt container and gestured at me. I made moves to peel the top away which brought a shriek and protest from her. She picked up one of her chopsticks and pantomimed drinking from a straw.

We debated a little bit on how to convince her that this was not a juice container but was yogurt, but could not come up with anything. Anytime I made moves to do anything with the yogurt container, she protested and made the straw motions. I wanted to quick peel the top away and show her that it was not something to drink, but she would not let that happen.

When it was time to leave, I told her to take it with her but she was still convinced she wanted a straw. She asked one of the wait staff something in Chinese, and the waitress responded with a hand motion. I think Abigail expected me to understand, but I didn't. I finally cast about looking for a straw and I found a bunch. On the shelf above the yogurt. Apparently, yogurt is eaten with a straw here.

She took one sip of the yogurt and then demanded that I eat the rest of it. She wouldn't back down when I indicated I was full by patting my stomach. We compromised by carrying it back to the hotel room.