Chinese grocery

After Sandy, Man and I decided that his parents' preparedness put us to shame.  And by "put us to shame" I mean, they might be able to out-survive the cockroaches in a nuclear fallout.

One of the two known upsides to hoarding.  The other being a constant supply of things-you-never-thought-you'd-need-but-now-do.  Oh and space heaters.  Of which, they have four--a nice ratio of two per person.

Anyway, Man and I decided that maybe we should stock our emergency supply with something a little more substantial than our solar Christmas lights.

And so we headed to the local Chinese grocery store and picked up four cans of butane and one of those portable stovetops--picking, of course, the only model that was racecar red.  Vroom vroom.  We are now ready for any storm.  And for hot pot.

I was trying to tell the lady that we didn't need a bag.  But she insisted and I think, understanding only the English parts, she said "No bag, no good."  Man assures me this was also exactly what she had said in Chinese just a moment before.  And then she said something else in Chinglish which I think meant "People might think you stole from us if you take it without a bag."

Shucks.  I hadn't ever considered that.


By the way, Man had no idea what she was saying, either.  But after his Chinese translation and my teachery ESL translation, that was our best guess.  A little ridiculous if you ask me, but I can't help but wonder what my reputation might be at Target if this is the case..