Like any married couple, Mama and Papa Fung experience tensions in their marital dynamic, much of which have been aggravated by recent financial stress. My dad, being the patriarch, has a tendency to be immediately contradictory whenever anyone suggests him to do anything. I've learned to handle it by ignoring him and then letting him come around to my ideas eventually. My mom, however, the (over)sensitive person that she is, has a harder time. So with my being at home, mom will use me as an intermediary. Yesterday, she asked me to help her translate something, which dad would actually be more equipped to do, given that he actually reads Chinese. While she was out running some errands, dad and I had a talk:
Me: Dad, can you translate this thing for mom? But we don't have to tell her that you did it. She wanted me to help her, so I can say that I just used Google Translate or something.
Dad: What? Why do we have to go through that conspiracy? I tell her I can help her but she just ignores me.
Me: She feels that you just dismiss anything she has to say, so she asks me for help now. And to tell you the truth, I don't blame her. She's reacting to more than 30 years of feeling as though you don't respect her.
Dad: So for 30 years she just feels oppressed? Like in Egypt?
Me: Hahaha, I guess so.
Dad: Then that makes me Mubarak! And this is her revolution!
Me: Um, if you want to use that analogy.
Dad: Hahaha... Okay. I understand now.
END.
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