Chapter 29 Twenty-six children, which bottle of milk do you drink?

MM's letter to her son: Always chase after the bad Dear Andre: I'm not interested in your world?What is it!You don't remember, in order to understand why you listen to Hip-Hop music, I listened to Hip-Hop carefully, and I found the lyrics and listened to the lyrics.Not only did I listen to popular music, but I also listened to music from before the 1980s, in order to understand the development process of this genre.After understanding, I realized that Hip-Hop comes from a spirit of protest and criticism, and good words have entered the realm of poetry.The frustrations of middle-aged parents, Andrea, may come more from their growing children's reluctance to open the door and let them into their world than from their parents' reluctance to enter.Don't you think I have too much "maternal love" and too many phone calls?Arrived in Taipei today.On the way home from Yangmingshan, I bought a two-liter bottle of fresh milk.When I got home, I opened the refrigerator and found that Aunt Lisa knew that I was coming back, so she filled the refrigerator earlier, and there was already a two-liter bottle of fresh milk in it.Now I have two 2 liter bottles of fresh milk.I took a closer look at the freshness date. One bottle expires today, which is almost stale; the other bottle is three days later.Which bottle would you start with, Andre?A friend from Qingdao told me this story.They gave them a box of apples.When I opened it, most of them were fresh and green, but a few had begun to change color.Without thinking, my Qingdao friend reached for the one that was about to rot; her 17-year-old son also grabbed the greenest one and began to gnaw on it without thinking.His mother hurriedly said, "Oh, eat the bad ones first. If you don't eat the bad ones, I'm afraid you won't be able to eat them tomorrow." The son felt that his mother was very strange, and said, "You start eating the bad ones until tomorrow, so that's good. The old ones gradually go bad, and as a result, you are chasing the bad ones all the way, and you are always eating the stale apples. Why can't you just enjoy the best ones?" The friend said, she listened to her son's words, half-heartedly Holding the bad apple in his hand, he stood there, speechless for a moment.All right, Andre.Now I'm standing in front of that open refrigerator.Excuse me, which bottle of milk would you drink first?

When Pianpian was young I sit down on the balcony.Overlooking the vastness of the Taipei Basin.An eagle, alone, up and down in the wind, like a teenager skateboarding alone.I thought, hey, why can't I hear the sound of his flapping wings?Listening carefully, I knew that it was covered by the sound of cicadas all over the mountains and valleys.In summer, Yangmingshan was occupied by cicada troops.Thinking of your letter describing me as "unbearable", I looked down at myself: what are you wearing today?A smoky cotton thin dress.For a straight tube, if you take a large plastic bag, cut out a semicircle on it, and cut out two sleeve holes on both wings, that’s it.barefoot.No color on the nails, no makeup on the face.No jewellery; today is a day of solitude.When I go out, I do "dress up," Andrei.However, the clothes are always white or black, which seems like a "minimalist" statement of action, but the real reason is, first, how can I spend time thinking about clothes and dressing up?Second, I may be using the so-called "minimalist" aesthetics to cover up my lack of experience in "beauty" and "taste", and I have no achievements.About when you were about 14 years old, I discovered that you already have your own style and taste in clothes.Your brother also began to stop acting like a "child" when he was 14 years old, and inadvertently revealed a kind of reservedness of a handsome teenager.I won't break it, but appreciate it silently from the sidelines.I was amazed at how delicate and complicated "growth" is.Anyone can see that a boy grows taller, a thin beard pops out, his voice suddenly changes, and his bulging cheeks are replaced by angular lines, but people will not notice that the childishness in his eyes disappears, and a Heroism began to be compelling; people will not find that his clothes, his look, and his self are as sensitive as the highest note of a soprano hovering on a crystal glass.His collar turned up or turned down, which height his jeans belt is tied at the waist, whether he wears a shirt or a shirt, whether the tail of the shirt is tucked in or exposed...all the details pull his heart beating.And between you and me, Andre, there is a gap; that gap is not only a difference of generations, but also a difference of culture, and even a difference of class.

I am a "Taiwan girl" Your mother, Andre, was a teenage girl growing up in the "Third World".In 1952 when I was born, the per capita income in Taiwan was less than US$200.In addition to the collective deprivation, this girl also comes from a refugee family, who migrated from China and was impoverished.It was not until 1970 that I saw refrigerators and televisions at home - so the 17-year-old Taiwanese girl did not see Armstrong's 1969 moon landing.Taiwan was the recipient of "US aid" until 1965. "American aid", there are three things in the memory of this Taiwanese girl: one is the Christmas card sprinkled with gold dust, which the American priest in the rural Catholic church will give you. Angel with wings.The second is tin cans of skimmed milk powder.The third is flour sacks.Resourceful moms cut sacks into tops and shorts for their kids.So you see children, big and small, "wearing flour sack shirts", with two big hands clasped on their chests, and the words: "Sino-US cooperation, 20 kg".Not a "potato sack," Andre, your mother was of the "flour sack" generation.Except for the flour sack shirts, I basically only wore school uniforms until I was 18.Don't think that it is the school uniform that expresses identity and status in British schools, with ties and leather shoes.We wore white and black dresses (you know where my “minimalist aesthetic” originally came from?).If the skirt is longer than the knee, it will be punished; if the hair is longer than the ear, it will be punished.My brothers wore khakis and white tops, and big military police caps with blue-shaven heads in them.When foreigners come to Taiwan, they are taken aback, thinking that Taiwan is full of soldiers and policemen, and it is a police state; they don't know, they are students.You will say, but these have nothing to do with "poverty".Yes, this kind of aesthetic monotony and unity of taste has less to do with poverty than authoritarian politics.But what I want to tell you is that when authoritarian politics and poverty cast a net to cover you, there is little room for taste.Because, what is taste, please?Isn't it the subtle distinction, the prominence of character, and the presentation of an independent individual?Everything is exactly what poverty gives you, and what authoritarian politics deprives you of.

another kind of poverty Andre, have you started to feel that the mother who grew up like this is "poor"?Then you are wrong.Poverty has made me lack the sensitivity and appreciation ability for material things, but it has deepened my understanding and sympathy for the weak.Authoritarian rule may have reduced my personal creativity, but it has sharpened my understanding of the nature of power and strengthened my belief in freedom. It may have also made me braver, because I know what it means to lose freedom.The past is what we must generally bear.So what is the past that you have to "summarize"?The country where you grew up has a per capita income of $30,579.You were raised in a democratic, open, and multicultural society; your parents both had Ph.Ds (although a "Dr." might be 100 percent dumb or a hooligan); The "international man"; you are simply a modern prince spoiled by too good a situation.Taste, is it too easy?But can you answer the question: If this great environment gives you beauty and taste, what does it take away from you?Does your generation actually have another kind of "poverty"?

MM 2006-08-20