THE PETRI DISH ACROSS THE HILL

If you live in the north-eastern sector you will probably at some point start picking up some Cantonese. If you don't, doubts about your intelligence may be justified. At the very least "hello" (你好 'nei hou'), "see you again" (再見 'joi kin'), "thank you" (多謝 'do je'; 多謝晒 'do je saai'), and "please-thank-you-excuse-me" (唔該 'm koi'). As well as some swear words. Which I shall not put down here.

多謝晒你 ('do je saai nei'): Thank you very much for things or services given.

Crucial, on crowded public transit, when one is near a red button which will tell the bus driver that someone wants off at the next stop, are the following:
撳 ('gam') press or push with the fingers or the hand. 按 ('on') also to push with fingers or hand. 鈕 ('nou') button.
撳，唔該 ('gam, m koi'): please press the button, as I am desirous of getting off this packed conveyance where none of these idiots are wearing masks and some are undoubtedly spreading Covid 19 or monkey pox with gay abandon.
Once you have done so, they will probably say 多謝晒 ('do je saai') to indicate that they very much appreciate your efforts to help them escape the rolling Petri dish (培養皿 'pui yeung min') at an opportune moment.

[培養皿 ('pui yeung min'): a "cultivate and nourish shallow container" used in laboratories for funguses, molds, bacterial cultures, a cell culture dish.]

Yesterday I mentioned to two oldsters that there were seats further back, told one person that there was truly no need for her to offer me her seat, made space for two adorable little girls and their dad, who do je saaied me on the way out, and helped a four foot tall old lady escape the rolling Petri dish with so many maskless dingoes.


That was after tea and a smoke in Chinatown.


When out of the house and not puffing on a pipe or drinking tea I always have a mask over my breathing holes. I consider that good manners



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