Table Manners

Ah-moe, returning home from the table manners course, with a big grin on his face.

Ah-pui was serving dinner on the table, with Ah-moo and Ah-mo sititing together, while Ah-mui at the far end of the table, as far away from Ah-mo as possible.

Ah-moe threw down a bag, scattering several forks and spoons on the table.

"Oei! 你们听hor! 你们每个人吃饭要用spoon! 要这样...." Ah-moe declared, as he made an exaggerated motion of scooping up something, stretching his hand all the way to the right and stuffing it back into his mouth.

"这样才好看 er! 别人笨er! 他们吃饭不会stylo的... Humph!" He grinned at himself, and stood there posing for a moment. It was another moment of victory for him. With his right hand holding the spoon at an angle away, as if he was holding a trophy or torch, Ah-moe turned his head to the right too, wearing a proud smirk on his face. One of his standard "victory poses". For about one whole minute.

Until he realised that no one was listening to him -- all of them were slurping down the food in their bowls. Utensils were simply too troublesome for them.

"来每个人来try! 来... 我来教你们..."

"不要er! 死Ah-moe..." Ah-mo retaliated without thinking. It had somewhat become his natural response, whatever Ah-moe suggested.

"Ah-mo你不敢er!" Ah-moe taunted.

As he dragged them away from the table, he lined them up in front of him, handing them a spoon each...

"First, like that...." He demonstrated scooping up food from an imaginary bowl in front of him.

"Then, like that..." As he stretched his arm holding the spoon all the way to the right, as far as he could reach.

"Then..." And he brought the spoon back into his mouth.

"好er! 来我们来try!" Ah-moe grinned.

...

And food flew all over the dining hall that night.

As they got tired of the routine, they tried eating faster and faster, going through each motion with greater force and speed, dispite the fact that more than half of the food was flung out this way.

However, Ah-mo had quite a bit of fun flinging food at Ah-moe; Ah-mui had a good time emptying the contents of her spoon onto Ah-mo's head; Ah-moo was glad that he didn't have to eat much of Ah-pui's cooking; Ah-moe was happy that everyone loved his new way of using the spoon; Ah-pui was the only one frustrated at how much cleaning she had to do now.

And so when it came to a vote soon after, it was to become yet another weird rule of the Hoo family.