Good Parenting

On the train home last night, there was a little boy who would not stop screaming and crying. I was pretty startled to see how someone that small could pump out that much acoustic energy. An old man sitting at the other end of the train yelled at the boy to stop crying. Although I didn't hear what he said, his scary demeanor did shut the little tyke up.

At that one instant, I recalled Dad's favorite scare tactic when I was a little boy. Basically, good old Dad would tell me the "Ge Niu Lao Han," which roughly translates into "old man that cuts off wee wee," would come and get me. According to Dad, this GNLH has a full bag of wee-wees from misbehaving little boys, Hell's version of Santa Claus, if you will. Now, I don't even remember why he used to say that because I was a quiet and docile little kid, or so I thought. Too bad I don't remember what my reactions were either. I must have been pretty scared if he used that threat a lot.

After I got off the train, I called Dad and we had a good laugh over it. When he asked me about my parking ticket appeal, I told him that I had to send the City Finance Dept. the payment along with my statement of appeal, that they have cashed my check already and I would only get a refund if they find my statement persuasive enough. He chuckled and said it's like "Yong Rou Bao Zi Da Gou," or trying to hit a dog by throwing meat buns at it, meaning that I shouldn't be holding my breath for a refund.