lost my appetite
a few weeks ago, for the happiness project, i posted a picture of the koi in our pond. because i liked them. they made me happy. (notice the past tense.)
well, on monday, i'd been out gallivanting around and when i came home i discovered our house help's husband had gotten all industrious. he'd decided the pond needed a good cleaning out and maybe a paint job. he had the fish in a big trash can where they seemed to be happy. and i had assumed (yes, assumed. i know. and now i have an answer for when someone asks, "you know what happens when you assume, don't you?" well, yes, yes i do. fish die.) that the water in the trash can was the water from the pond. but turns out it was fresh water straight from the tap. chlorinated water. deadly water. (but that discovery comes later. and isn't made by me.) so p'khao (the husband) asks what color would i like for the pond to be painted - he's leaning towards blue. how would i feel about blue?
i'm not a huge fan of blue. and this particular shade of blue doesn't strike me as pond friendly. so i suggest white. he asks me several time if i'm sure that i want white and every time i say yes, i'm sure. white is what i want. white, white, white. only, i wasn't saying white. (it's an easy mistake, they are close in sound and i was feeling pressured.) so off p'khao went in search of the paint i'd asked for. only he wasn't sure i was right about this color choice, so he made an executive decision. (which is something i'm not so sure the hired help should feel so comfortable doing, but in this case, it was a very, very good thing.) and chose a very nice teal-y blue. he got the pond about half way painted on monday. so the fish were left in the trash can for the night.
the next morning (yes, this is when the discovery happens) #2 and #3 wander out to check on the fish. and they make the discovery that the fish, they are dead. tragic thing to come upon before you've made it out the door to school. i'm not home on tuesday to see p'khao or p'jim, so no discussion about the fish happens. but today there are big apologies. and heart felt don't-worry-about-its all around. i assure them that i hold no ill will. that it really is okay. and it takes me a bit to convince them to not replace the fish. that the kids want to go pick out new ones.
and so, as they are leaving. they bring me a special lunch. a we-feel-so-bad-we-killed-your-fish-and-we-want-to-do-what-we-can-to-make-it-up-to-you special kind of lunch.
i haven't been able to eat it. i'm thinking of saving it and serving it to the kids for dinner tonight.
4 comments:
That's hilarious and sad, at the same time...and I can just imagine the reaction of your kids...any kids.
Is it wrong of me that I keep thinking about this post and starting to giggle again. Especially over the "white" fish pond. I mean, poor fish, but oh my.
I wouldn't be able to eat it either. Very funny though. :)
Oh.My.Goodness!! Not much more to say than that!
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