I am not your Brother

In Taiwan, children nearly always call all adults by some family name or other. Even complete strangers are "Auntie" or "Big Sister." Where I work, the kids call the cook "Mother Wang," and the manager (the only other male usually in the building) "Uncle."

Adults usually call each other the equivalent of "Mr." or "Miss," unless they are clearly of superior status (i.e. teachers, bosses, supervisors, etc..) and then they get referred to by their title. That's fine, I'm not complaining. I've worked hard to explain that instead of "Teacher Jason," my students can also call me "Mr. Tucker" if they're brave.

But at a little restaurant up the street from my house, it's a different story. It's a "lunchbox" shop, which means that they serve pre-packed boxes with rice and vegetables plus the one main item you order (chicken leg, pork steak, etc...). The woman there always calls me "shuai ge," which means, more or less, "handsome guy." She doesn't smile when she says it, it's just another word to her. I thought that was nice, but lately she's substituted it for "wai guo peng yo" which means "foreign friend." That's also fine, but I have to confess that I kind of liked the other one better.

Of course, there must be a downside for children to address strangers as kin, but don't get me started on the Asian lack of privacy. Like the McDonald's coloring contest where all the 5-year olds' pictures were on display in the shop front, along with their names, addresses, and phone numbers.