You so lazy

Last weekend, I spent the day at Aunt Jennifer’s (the sister of Ed’s dad) house to celebrate Grandma’s 91st year on this planet. Two of Aunt Jennifer’s cousins were also hanging out at her house, enjoying Grandma’s company. The challenge for me when I spend time with Ed’s family is the language barrier. I don’t speak Chinese and the older aunts and uncles do not speak English. So we usually just nod and smile to each other but never actually converse.

After lunch, one of Aunt Jennifer’s cousin and Grandma were in the living room chatting. My purse was in that room so I strolled in to retrieve it. Then I here the cousin say “You! You so lazy.” I quickly surmised that she didn’t sound like she was speaking to Grandma so I looked over at them and sure enough, found her pointing at me. I’ve never had a conversation with her before and now she’s calling me lazy? What gives? I quizzically looked at her. Me? And she replied, “You so lazy. Why no baby? Grandma get old.” In a moment of insanity, I actually thought about making a rebuttal but as I inhaled to start speaking, I paused and then just said “Ok.” And ran out of the living room as quickly as I could.

I'm sure something got lost in the translation there. Now I realize, just nodding and smiling to each other isn’t so bad after all!