UnblessedTees :
I was 12 in 1986, & that summer my aunt hired me travel with her to Grand Island, Nebraska, to “babysit” my cousin, who was probably 5 at the time, while she attended some conference at the Holiday Inn. My job was literally just to watch TV with him in the hotel room, & then we’d play in the pool all afternoon until dinner, bc it was the 80’s & 12-year olds were de facto certified to be lifeguards, in addition to guardians of toddlers in a foreign small town. But the thing I most remember about that trip is that there was a McDonalds very close to the hotel, & she’d let us go over there at least once a day & get this meal deal, that came with chopsticks. And how obsessed I became with learning how to use chopsticks with all kinds of foods, to the point where I’d come home from school & make myself six saltine crackers with a slice of Kraft singles on top, & watch the Addams Family & Bewitched while eating my snack with chopsticks. In secret of course, bc I didn’t dare let anyone see me practice my new skill. I planned to spring it on my family the first time we went to a Chinese restaurant. They’d look across the table & see their 12-yr old flawlessly eating his entire meal with chopsticks, like some genius who’d spent his formative years half way around the world at a posh Chinese boarding school. Say what you will about McDonald’s not being a cultural touchstone, but McDonald’s Shanghai taught me how to use chopsticks. Also, my parents still acted surprised when I came out to them, bless their hearts.
2026-08-10 02:39:22