Drop bait, catch the ball…

‘Or to say belongs to women. (Which) drinking belongs to men. Smoking belongs to men. But eating gifts can’t pass women’. That verse made to the tune of the song ‘One life, one forest’ was very popular about 30 years ago.
It’s an interesting parody comparing men to women, which ends with a very fair sentence that “Who was once a woman, always wanted to be a man. But who was once a woman. Men, never want to become a woman. (Because) suffering is worse than being pregnant…”. But compared to the times, it seems that the references in that parody are outdated. Women now drink alcohol, smoke is not rare anymore. And when eating gifts, men always have that hobby, but don’t rush to “slander” women.

I’m not a junk food person. For over 30 years, I haven’t even touched sweets. Not because of any abstinence, but basically because of the simple taste that doesn’t like sweet. Coffee also hand bo, no sugar. Seeing cake, candy is casually ignored. And the thing that always scares the most is the cake. I don’t understand why, just see the cake and dodge. But even if you’re not a person who likes to eat snacks, your mouth will still snap when you have the opportunity. The occasion here is when sitting with leaf tea, hanging out with friends. The little things, the little things on the table, will also make me finger. Of course, must be not sweet. Men’s thumbs-up is actually very common. Just look at a drinking table anywhere we will see. A few peanuts, a few spring rolls, a few pieces of toad, mango or even when the mouth is sad, just fingering the stalks of herbs is also a type of snack. That’s just talking about the type of man who rarely eats gifts like me. There are many other people, with different tastes, will eat “flying in the line” snack. For example, my brother “trumpeter” named Kien. This man is especially fond of fried dough. Every time you enter the city. Ho Chi Minh performed or recorded, he would have to make a good fried dough fight anyway. Many times, the brothers went out to drink together, had to order fried dough for him to eat to satisfy his cravings. When it comes to fried dough, I’m also startled. It’s something I’ve never eaten before. In the past, during the subsidy period, in the early 80’s, I remember every 3-4 o’clock in the afternoon, my father and a few colleagues working in the design room dragged home to make a few cups of wine. The bait is nothing. My son (me) is always sent to run errands to the top of the street to buy his father a few packets of roasted peanuts. “Wages” to buy is a separate package, sit out in a corner to sip. Northerners often drink snacks with roasted peanuts and basil. Southerners have other interesting snacks as bait. It’s raw shrimp noodles. One or two packages of noodles are broken, take the bundle of seasoning powder that comes with it, sprinkle it on it, squeeze a slice of lemon into it, that’s enough for a tray of four people who stay until late at night. And the way of picking up tiny raw noodles and sipping them is really interesting. It has the face, the sourness, the slightly sweet taste of seasoning there. With a sip of “crazy” beer (how to call a kind of beer of people in the South) or a little wine, tell a few crap stories, chat with neighbors, it is true to the spirit of “alley” of Saigon Very gong. Referring to that raw instant noodles, those who grew up in the North in the 80s and 90s will surely remember. Almost all children love to eat raw shrimp noodles. The smell of the burning compliment of the package of noodles that day was strangely impressive. Many children still crave raw noodles so much that every day when their parents are not at home, when the meal should be cooked, they break them and eat them raw and drink cold water. Quick and easy, as well as delicious. Noodles with water in the stomach and then it will not bloom. That is the logic of the playful and lazy children. Later, instant noodles lost the taste of the old days. Even the famous varieties of that day such as “Two shrimp”, “Miliket” still sold in the market could no longer retain the smell and taste of decades ago. Strictly speaking, today’s noodles are better, cleaner, better cooked to eat, but to eat raw, it loses the memory of instant noodles. Going back to the story of drinking and drinking with a pack of raw noodles of the Southern people, the spirit, the indigenous culture, it pops up very clearly there. Southerners, especially Westerners, have an interesting and strange way of life. “Hey Ut, what to do?” This can be a very common question to see if your friends are free. “Reprimanded for doing a few dirty things” is a catchphrase that also goes to the South. “Cun” is “free time” and “doing wrong” is… not doing bad things at all. “Doing bad things” in the inner region can be drinking, eating… It describes an action that is spontaneous, unfussy, liberal and impromptu. The word “doing it wrong”, must be said is too excellent. Living in the South for more than twenty years, living in the alley a lot, the relationship with the people in the alley is also close, so I learned a lot. I was also busy receiving a phone call from a fake neighbor that day asking the same questions as above, I asked in the correct voice “did some bottles? Where are you?” then received the answer “I’m at my house. I’m quiet”. “I’m alone” is actually “I’m alone” but for some reason, the “yen” sound evokes a very strange image and feeling. It shows loneliness but a loneliness without sadness. Referring to those typical languages ​​​​of the Southern people, we will certainly find it extremely diverse. “Mixed” for example. It is a way of drinking with a single glass for the whole table, rotating and drinking. Drinking this way is sentimental, but honestly, in this COVID-19 time, it evokes fear. Drinking from the same cup is easy to expose to diseases and surely people will criticize people in the garden to drink like that as dirty. But then again, is it dirtier than some well-dressed men smoking the same cigar? Dialects are incredibly interesting and, strictly speaking, we’re lucky to be in a country that is geographically spread out and dialects vary along that length. Of course, that difference may bring some difficulties and obstacles in economic and social development, but it brings a cultural diversity with many interesting colors. But in hindsight, there still seems to be an injustice to the dialect as the official dictionaries do not consider the way of saying certain particular words in common in a locality as an official entry. There is even a disdain as if it were a lisp. After all, writing is to record what people say, with one of its functions being the notation. So, when people in the Southwest region don’t say “perch” but instead “go fish”, why don’t we consider “Go” as an entry in the dictionary, with the caption “Perch” , in the South West parlance”?. What’s wrong with reading from father to son? Just like in the Central region, with the word “how” for “buffalo”, the word “nac” means “water”. To disregard the dialect in a rigid reference to the fact that there must be a standard of pronunciation, it seems that we are wasting a real cultural resource, because the way of speaking is not just speaking, it is also instructive. concept, culture and living spirit of a region. But sadly, when the dialect is being looked down on like that, in today’s press, the use of trendy words (following the trend) of young people is automatically accepted easily. This is not to denigrate the new words of young people because there are many extremely interesting words. However, the passed on and the new born should go hand in hand, as a recognition of the origin and development of a living language. By the way, ignore this one, get excited about that, is it a bait to catch the ball or not???