No One Eats, Even the Food is Delicious

Klin Cheng 

Oct 31, 2009 

      This was probably the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me, because the delicacies cooked according to my secret recipes for wining and dining dignitaries were completely deserted despite the fact that they are delicious mouth watering dishes. So, I wonder why my choice tidbits failed to tickle their palates and whetted their appetite. Was it because I had a wrong concept of myself ? or, Was it because I had a poor knowledge of people’s taste? If it were the first, I was guilty of falsely claiming myself to be a worthy chef; if it were the latter, I made a mistake by overestimating the general public’s ability to appreciate culinary excellence. Which is the case? Without fair judgment, I can’t answer this. Certainly, there is a possibility that the whole business was generated by the pathological fancies of a sick soul (me, perhaps) who believed he had the power to foster strength and joy in others, yet showing no such gift. But it is also likely that the embarrassment was caused by the superficial play of a shallow, opinionated sentiment, which killed the lofty ideals of any promising minds, preventing them from touting the full worth and meaning of the real thing. Taking it as an isolated case coming from a diseased temperament rather than the unfortunate showing of our times’ maladies is more acceptable to me, because, long time ago, I’ve found curing a sick individual much easier than treating a herd ignorant of their addiction to vices and sins. If I can find a man with such calm objectivity, such certainty of thought and knowledge as I have been looking for, I might be able to make my case. But, in view of the fact that such fair-minded intellectuals are hard to come by, I wouldn’t count on that. The best way to guarantee a solution suitable for everyone else is change myself and stop making food for the gods. Otherwise, there is no way for me to covey an image in substantial agreement with the one welcomed by others.