I, Mannequin

When I first met my wife’s extended family, many of them did not know quite what to make of me. This was especially true of my youngest nephew-in-law, a cute but very timid boy of 3. A few days previous to me being introduced, they had taken little Xiao Zhang to the department store. He cowered at the sight of the smooth, hairless mannequins modeling the fashions, all of which were very tall and had western facial features. Refusing to go anywhere near them, his mother endevoured to explain, “those are not real people, and cannot move. They are just like big dolls and are made of plastic". That calmed him a bit but he continued to eye them suspiciously. 
 
On the evening we were invited to their home, he was sitting on the sofa beside his father. The minute he spotted me, he started to wail. “What on earth is the matter?”, his mother asked. Xiao Zhang crawled behind his father, pointed at me over his shoulder, and hollered, “It’s Alive!!”

last modified Jun 24, 2004 at 7:39

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