Chinese-Box: Chapter 1

The beginning of my month-long project about American pluralism environments, leading up to the people's-media Super Bowl in February.

I'm beginning a month-long work-project (day-to-day or week-to-week chapters/editions/addendums) involving the 'experience' of working as a Caucasian-American in a completely Chinese (restaurant) work environment (Chinatown, Philadelphia), a treatise on multiculturalism leading up to the Super Bowl (California) in February which will certainly be another 'exposition' into the depths of American markets regarding the 'branching' of capitalism-dance. So, I hope you enjoy this ongoing (month-long) project which will culminate into a Super Bowl fanfiction (regardless of who wins!), inspired by Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe). While I can't *really* promise to add chapters regularly, I do hope to offer some morsel of real American 'wisdom' with this sincere work of modern prose/messaging(!). Thanks for your readership (and stay safe!), 

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Evan and his sister Denise began work at Chinese-Box, a quaint neon-lit ethnic restaurant in Chinatown (Philadelphia) which offered customers/patrons terrific exotic dishes like wonton-seafood soup, grandfather-chicken with egg fried-rice, broccoli chow-fun, swordfish, beef with gravy, and fried ice-cream. Chinese-Box saw a rather multicultural customer-base, and it stood at a nice location in Chinatown (Philadelphia) which its customers/patrons always appreciated, being able to walk there conveniently after parking in the central nearby public-lot. The customer-patron base was also middle-to-upper class in terms of wealth bracket in the nearby area as well as traveling/passing tourists, since the restaurant looked rather well-managed or designed or maintained or 'mounted' for a luxurious feel.

The one odd feature of Chinese-Box was that while the managers/owners and kitchen-staff and cleaning-staff and seating hosts/hostesses were all Chinese/Chinese-Americans by ethnicity/heritage, Evan and his sister Denise, who worked there as waiter-waitress, were obviously Caucasian-Americans (of Irish heritage!). Both Catholics, they ironically enjoyed chatting with the kitchen-staff composed of colorful Chinese chefs who'd been brought to the USA from China by the restaurant owners/managers to offer their authentic brand of Chinese cooking. These distinctly Chinese workers enjoyed chatting with Evan/Denise about their fascination with Eastern/Buddhist Chinese philosophy and religion and fables, while the Caucasian sibling-pair appreciated responding with their anecdotes about peculiar Irish-American stories/heritage!

EVAN: It's really unusual to be the only Caucasians (Irish!) in a work-environment in America.
DENISE: Even though it's Chinatown, so you expect such a thing, it's still rather...odd in spirit!

Nevertheless, despite this 'odd feature' of the Chinese-Box working experience, the Irish-American sibling-pair Evan/Denise enjoyed the idea of bringing their distinctly Caucasian/Irish 'experience' of consciousness to this certainly entirely Chinese restaurant work-environment. Evan/Denise in fact commented on the special 'American' flavor of reaching into their souls to find the gumption or courage to be the 'odd-thumb' Caucasians (Irish!) in a completely Chinese work-environment. Chinese-Box became to Evan/Denise what arguably what Olympics ice-skating was to African-American superstar (medal-winner) Debbie Thomas who broke 'ground' in becoming one of the first African-Americans to shine in ice-skating. Nevertheless, the energetic Evan/Denise didn't consider their waitstaff work at Chinese-Box as 'political' but rather as human and courageous in general. It was good work and it was good fun, despite its distinctly 'odd' American feature(s). This would be an exposition in the 'layers' of American working life in Philadelphia.

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"Money is everything" (Ecclesiastes)