Lottery
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Same set of situation, variety of readings. Rashomon effect. In Vietnam, if you ran into a funeral, it’s luck. Wow! Positively positive. The deaths live on in the family, albeit high up on the altar. Part of one another forever. Unlike in the US, health care for all is health care for none (shut down). Negatively…
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Saigon currently is under a shield of grey. The weary, the worried put on ponchos, just to take them off. False alarm. Oh Come Ye O Faithful blasted out from neighboring homes. Christmas is in the air. but not for those who make a living hand-to-mouth, and there are a lot them. Maybe this year is the year…
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At any time of the day in Saigon, you might be approached by street vendors selling lottery tickets, snacks. Even Buddhist monks hold a donation box but with fixed gaze in Zen steps i.e. barefooted on hot concrete. Self-punishment. I respect the monks. Their self-control , from strict diet to dress code. Life evolves around 8-fold…
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Rain pours so hard here in Saigon. It feels like a city wash. Yet bike traffic never ceases. Wet city streets didn’t stop weekend spontaneous racing. Hard-earned money got washed away just as quickly as it is earned, mostly at beer stalls. People press RESET and go on. It’s not too different elsewhere. Just differs in intensity…
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It’s been a few days since full moon. But people here in HCMC still burn incense and ceremonial money for the dead, most particularly, for deceased mothers. Meanwhile, there is a class of women entrepreneurs who don’t mind drink you under the table, drive to work and in every aspect, personify the softer side of Saigon.…
Thang Nguyen 555 