I Like Chinese... but not the Chinese Flu

So what did I do when I heard about the coronavirus from China? I went to my favorite local Chinese joint, and I ordered chow fon (aka chow fun…some menus spell it differently). 

I wanted my Asian pals to know that I wasn’t afraid they were carrying the virus, and that I was supporting their fine, fine food. (Music hath charms…I never heard of “chow fon” until Paul Simon sang about having a plate of it stolen from him.)  

Unfortunately, most Chinese restaurants have now shuttered, because either the staff couldn’t get to work, or because there was a huge disruption in obtaining the special ingredients needed. While ordinary stores couldn't keep toilet paper, soap, and eventually canned goods and boxed pasta in stock, Chinese restaurants found their distributors unable to import supplies or deliver them. 

OH, another reason Chinese restaurants began to close, and the various Chinatowns in major cities became ghost towns…some racists out there were blaming Chinese Americans for the bat-shit-crazy bat eaters and “exotic animal” slurpers (raw monkey brains, anyone?) who have started epidemics from obscure regions in China. 

So let's all sing along with Eric Idle! "I LIKE CHINESE" 

 
Of course, everyone's sense of humor is a bit different. Isn't it, lady...

It's unfair to blame all Chinese for what a few ignorant peasants do in China itself. BUT it IS time for China to take action. If they can restrict their citizens to one child each, they can certainly clamp down on wacko Asian markets where unclean and disgusting “delicacies” are sold…ones that mutate into deadly diseases. 


It’s very rare when the conservatives and the liberals agree on anything, but in the case of Covid-19 (there were 18 previous ones?) aka coronavirus (which had people refusing to drink Corona brand beer), a few think that the REAL name should indeed be the “Chinese Virus” or the “Wuhan Flu.”  Trump himself has used one of those terms, but guess who agrees with Donnie Orange, for a change? Yes, Bill Maher, the man Trump once sued. Here's Bill Maher's editorial last week on why we SHOULD call this plague the "Chinese Flu" or "Wuhan Flu." 

Here's hoping that things get back to normal soon, that such a thing NEVER happens again, and that we can all go back to our favorite Chinese restaurants just for fun. Or for chow fun. Or for whatever your own favorite might be....