Parents Of The Year

I went to a Vietnamese restaurant with Little Brother and Sister-In-Law. It was a Sunday afternoon and the place was packed, but we managed to find a table, albeit too close to another larger table with a couple and their three children. I would guess they were 7, 3 and 1 year old respectively.

The parents have ordered a large bowl of Pho soup for the three children and two rice dishes for themselves. I didn't notice what or how the two older children ate, but for the youngest one, the father had fished out from the bowl of soup some strands of pasta which he then put right on the table for the baby to pick up and eat. Of course, her little face was covered with pasta but none of the parents seemed to care. But the main thing was that the glass pane covering the table was dirty, because between two sittings, the surface is wiped clean with a dirty rag. I tried to look away, but Sister-In-Law started commenting: "Look! The mother just dipped her hand right into the soup, searched around and pulled out a piece of vegetable and now she's flinging it on the table for the baby to eat."

And then it was over, they're finished eating. The parents started dressing up the two younger kids, without wiping their faces or their fingers (or even their own fingers). The little baby, who had her coat put over her noodle-covered pants, smiled at me, with a piece of shallot stuck on her cheek.

They left and the waiter came to wipe the table with his greyish wet rag.