Old lady at the Shanghai market scolded me for picking the wrong bok choy

I reached for a bunch that looked fine and she snatched it out of my hand, handed me a different one, and said 'this one is for eating, that one is for rabbits' in perfect English. She was probably 70 and running circles around me at 6 AM. Has anyone else gotten schooled by an elderly Chinese grandparent in a market?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul_thompson678d agoMost Upvoted

That old lady was probably born before refrigerators were common, so she knows her bok choy.

the_uma7d ago

Right so my friend Cheryl, she's from a big Cantonese family and she told me her grandma was the same way. One time Cheryl tried to rush through cleaning the gai lan and grandma made her start over, said the stems have to be snapped not cut or you ruin the whole texture. People like @paul_thompson67 are totally right, that old lady probably learned that trick from her own mom back when ice boxes were the only thing keeping food cold.