-^-for posterity-^-

my family went to the market today. we tried to find jason a bride.

we hopped on some cyclos and weaved through traffic. riding on a cyclo is an event. the drivers are all a step above poor but they’re a long way fom comfortable. they wear a macabre set of clothes: old polo shirts covered in busy blue and green patterns, torn fluorescent slacks, a once white hat long since stained yellow and old sandals. the driver sits behind you mounted high on a overly springed seat. the cyclo is covered in chrome. the driver is the king of the road: no one wants to run into a large metal contraption carrying an overweight white person. they pedal slowly. the ride is smooth. traffic flows around you like you’re a rock in a stream.

the market is an orgy of consumerism and over-priced trinkets. the stalls are small, some only three feet wide. the aisles are too narrow for how wide we are. people hawk all sorts of goods: ‘mister, you buy shirt’, ‘madam, come in buy one now’, ‘you, handsome, buy’ and so on. you can buy all things shiny and sharp.

we sat at a stand and had something to drink. some of the women came over to talk to us. they were surprised that i spoke vietnamese and began to barrage me with the usual questions (how old are you, what’s your nationality, what do you do, do you have a wife).

they thought jason was handsome and decided to fix him up with one of the girls. the girl stood off to the side and worked shyly. jason sat in front of his drink and looked confused. her name was but or butt or something to that effect. it was a name i wasn’t used to and it didn’t sound polite. she was smallish and ordinary looking. she wasn’t too attractive or too ugly. her hair was chopped short and she wore a lavender shirt and pants. i don’t remember her saying anything.

seven or ten girls instantly surrounded us and i began translating for them and jason. they were sure that jason and butt would make a good couple. they kept extolling the virtues of ms. butt. she was shy and knew how to cook well. she knew how to make fried spring rolls. she also knew how to make and mend clothes. she would have made a wonderful wife for jason.

everything was going wonderfully. it looked like jason was going to leave the market, not with a fake jade buddha statue, not with a a conical hat, but with a new wife.

dad was roaming around behind us taking movies and generally meeting people. someone told me that ms. butt’s mother wanted to meet my father in order to consummate the marriage. i didn’t translate that because i was too busy eating and not busy paying attention to the long term consequences. dad walked over and shook her mother’s hand. they were getting married.

we eventually left and promised to return. jason was embarrassed and his future wife was also in hiding. we left and people were disturbingly serious. they thought jason and this mysterious girl shroud in lavender had a serious future. it would have been interesting but i think we made the right decision in leaving.