(454) Prawn mee lady

There is a shop nearby that sells different types of noodles on different days of the week. The old lady managed her business with the help of a young lady. I have always thought that it was a mother and daughter team. My friend Annie said it was a mistress-foreign maid team. She judged by the skin colour. I went by the easy familiarity between young and old persons.

Food was good, therefore we returned many times. What I find inconvenient is the fact that most of the time they sell out by eleven o'clock before noon. I know the location of the shop is  not good. Most customers are regulars. I suppose it is not smart to over produce and be bogged down by selling well past lunch time. But still, shouldn't anybody make a little more so that people who eat early lunch will still find something to buy?

I guess I am not a chatty customer. I have not suggested anything to either lady one way or another. What I noticed is that many regulars stay and become good friends with the two. One day there was a tiff between the old lady and the young helper. As soon as I sat down, I could sense some tension. Since I was hungry, I just bowed my head and ate as fast as the hot soup cooled. The old lady walked right past me and grumbled, "Even my daughter dared not raised her voice in talking to me!" I was so utterly taken aback. Before I realized it, I answered,"O dear, I thought she was your daughter!" The old lady gave me an incredulous look and went noisily over to wash coffee cups.

After that incident, I noticed that both the owner and the helper were a little friendlier to me. Perhaps they wrote me off as a person who is totally unfriendly. Hey! A customer who does not chit chat with other patrons or the server need not mean she is unsociable. I merely keep quiet because the patrons are usually rough looking men. These are traveling salesmen, truck drivers, service people like air-con repairmen and delivery folks.

note: mee is a Hokkien word meaning yellow wheat noodle. Prawn mee is an overseas Hokkien food: noodle, beansprout or green vegetable, prawns, fish cake slices, lean pork slices, half an egg(hard boiled) in spicy soup, topped by fried shallot. I love to eat it but try to limit it to once a week because the soup was made by boiling prawn shells and heads for hours.