Holiday message; Joanna yelled at; games; 2 left feet

My Christmas message this year is a simple one: Have patience. My wife is the embodiment of this virtue, and it's changed my life and my life view. I thought of my dad, who like all of us, had his faults and then some. But even my dad changed his view of people of color when he was 94 years old -- primarily because of Barack Obama. Had he lived beyond 98 years old, he would have supported Hillary Clinton as well, even though he was also a misogynist in his day. I even saw my ridiculously stubborn and self-destructive brother, who died 20 months ago, soften his stance toward friends, family and food as he was dying. We may inherit some unsavory traits, but we have the ability to change our views and perspectives, especially as we get older ... or wiser. So, don't be too quick to judge. Try to have patience with people and life.
Happy holidays everyone from me, Phuong and Joanna!

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Joanna and I go to the park about five times a week. We've been doing this for many months ... maybe even for a couple of years. Last week, the park security guard, who sits and watches YouTube videos, took offense to Joanna sitting on the little hedges in the park, which she's been doing for months. The guard yelled at her to stop and he was doing that asinine hand-waving the Vietnamese use for countless purposes as he rushed toward her. Joanna was stunned and scared. She burst into tears, and didn't stop crying until we left the park. Before we left, I tried to ask the guard (through words and gestures) why he yelled at toddlers but didn't pick up the litter in the park, or stop people from littering and riding their motorbikes in the park, or stop people from letting their dogs run loose and crap on the grass and sidewalks (signs prohibit motorbikes and littering). The guard smiled, then laughed and waved his hands at me. This same guard told my wife that he tried stop a guy from driving his car into the park and parking it. The driver became belligerent, according to the guard, who backed off and let the driver have his way. The guard said he didn't want a confrontation. My theory is that it's easier to bully a 29-month-old girl than control some guy in a car who probably makes a living intimidating people. I let the guard know I was pissed because he scared the daylights out of my daughter for doing something that she's been doing for months in full view of this guard and others. If it damaged the hedges and really bothered him, normal behavior would have the guard ask the parents to prevent their daughter from sitting on hedges. A couple of weeks ago, a guard yelled at Joanna when she pulled on a plant leaf. His method was sheer ignorance, but at least I agreed with his message that Joanna shouldn't pull on plants. When you live overseas in areas that are a bit remote and aren't frequented by tourists, you run the risk of encountering more situations like this. By the way, I've started picking up litter in the park since there isn't as much as before. I do this to set an example for my daughter, and all the other "children" out there who feel compelled to throw trash in the park and streets.

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At the coffee shop where I read I see lots of folks staring hard into their laptops and iPhones. I always assumed they were texting, but when I started snooping I saw that they were playing video games. Three adult men will cram into the same side of a booth and play games, making their own sound effects. Strange stuff, in the White Monkey's narrow cultural view. I saw a young woman -- not a girl -- playing a game on Saturday. She played 45 minutes straight; I know this because I read 45 pages of my book and she didn't move.

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Tai chi is my nightly ritual, as I've mentioned ad nauseam in this blog, but the other night my workout was really strange. I've had a balky knee for a while, but that wasn't the problem. My feet felt odd, almost awkward. I did some warm-ups without major issues, but when I did the form something was clearly amiss with my feet. My workout area is fairly dark, so I went inside where there's a better light and saw that I put on two left shoes. I own two pairs of kung fu shoes and guess I got them mixed up. I dance like I've got two left feet, and now I do tai chi the same way.