My Waitress Fed Me. Can She Feed You?
So yesterday I decided to stop by a hole in the wall Korean BBQ joint on Buford Highway.
It had some GREAT reviews and I was missing my Korean kid.
So I pulled in.
Alone I walked to my table where the waitress immediately recognized my Korean tattoo on my left forearm.
She grilled me and soon found out that I was the proud father of a Korean born son, Losiah.
She yelled something out to the kitchen and soon after I was surrounded by the staff oooooing and ahhhhhing over the pictures of my beautiful family on my iPhone.
I soon was delivered my Beef ribs and was about to get to work when my waitress returned and…
It all happened so fast…
My question to you…
Would you have let her shove her fingers all up in your mouth or politely declined?
Los
RAIN IT DOWN
DECLINE! I sleep in a different room if my wife is sick…I can’t imagine letting someone stick her fingers in my mouth…I might throw up.
HHAHAHAHA
Koreans do things like this. Especially cause you had that korean tat they felt a little more comfortable. On top of that she was probably older than you and if you know anything about Koreans this was perfectly normal. Haha but knowing you didn’t know what was coing on at the time it must have been a funny experience.
When in Rome…
I would have let her; obviously she felt a connection and to decline probably would have hurt her feelings. And besides, after some of the stuff I ate in Africa, that wouldn’t have seemed sketchy.
Yea. I have been to Korea and this is a first.
I would have sat back and taken like a man too! HAHAHAHA
Taken it like a man!
at that point, she was not thinking she was your waitress. she was thinking she was your surrogate korean mom. and that’s just what korean mamas do: feed their kids! (especially their sons!)
and besides, you know that Kalbi still tasted good!
btw, let me assure all of you here that being fed by your waitress is NOT a korean custom! Los just got “special” treatment b/c koreans don’t often meet brown guys with yellow sons
thanks for answering my question about culture.
i guess the next step is for Los to bring his son in?
By far, your explanation is the best
HAHAHA. Although heather did remind me that when we were in Korea picking up Losiah a woman shoved Kimchi in my mouth there as well!!!
exactly… i think she was just being motherly and wanted to treat you right!
I still taste it!
i dunno, maybe there is just something about you that makes middle-aged korean women want to shove food in your mouth with their fingers? i just know it’s not a normal korean thing! (well, unless it’s a mom and her kid
)
The food or her fingers? lol
I talk a big game about declining, but knowing and having been in other countries where this may be custom… i’d probably let her.
Yup. I’m all about it.
I am amazed you were able to get fed and film like that at the same time!
You never cease, never cease…
Never. I just wish they would embed a camera in my skull.
I don’t know Korean culture, but if this is something that is done to show honor and respect, I would have let her. I realize we live in an American culture – but if this is something from Korea as far as a custom that shows respect or that it is important, then I would let it happen.
I don’t think it’s Korean culture. I think she just was diggin my rookieness in that joint.
mmmm…. i think I’m jonesing for some korean food now.
what you ate is called “sahm”… kinda-sorta-could-maybe mean “package” or “wrap”… good stuff!
It was baller for sure.
seriously, i’m really hungry now. ssahm is the way to go. and you can wrap it in so many different things… red lettuce, perilla leaves, thinly sliced rice cake… *droooool*
you’re practically korean now, Los. learn some more korean words, bring in lil Los, and you’ll be a rockstar in that joint!
I’d like to say decline, but it didn’t look like there was too much time to get that out
So was the food worth having her hands all in it?
Um………..
Well, if she feeds me everytime…then I guess its customer service to the T!
let her.
less work for me.
i hope she washed her hands though. STILL LAUGHING HERE!!!
plus. she “like-a big”.
Seriously. I thought I’d let someone else point that out.
HAHAHA!!!
I’d let her, followed by a very nervous laugh and most likely a lame attempt of a “thankful” smile. Props to you Los! You handled that well!
Carlos, you were the victim of a drive-by feeding! Too fast to decline. If you tried to decline it would involve drool and perhaps spit from your already open mouth. If she lingered after then the weirdness rises exponentially.
totally. Drive by feeding at it’s finest.
LOL! Literally, I did!
well seeing as how all that food looked disgusting, probably not.
But what a genius system. The least amount of work to get food, that would be awesome.
And makes for a great blog post
In a heartbeat….a killer connection was made at the moment. Comfort zones were down, and complete vulnerability was in action.
I probably would have said AWKWARD while swatting at her hand when I saw it going towards my mouth.
It probably would have hurt her feelings, but ya know, its my mouth.
Your look into the camera at the last second is the absolute best way to describe how I would feel about it.
Your bug eyes in the end cracked us up! It looked good, I would have let her…
haha los the same thing happened to me at hae woon dae on buford hwy.
.kr ladies don’t think the honkey knows what to do. my wife was ready to KILL. haha!
At our local Korean Restaurant the owner does it all: cooks, serves, buses the four tables. So she doesn’t have time to be feeding folks, but she does keep whipping up food we don’t order and giving that to us. So if you don’t order any kimchi pancake and she thinks you need some, you get it anyway. Poeple with these generous souls are a blessing so I don’t see how you can refuse a bit of food being shoved in your mouth. Please let us know what happens when you take your son there.
that just happened!
I would have done exactly what u did…..the look on your face after was priceless!
depends on the patron. We used to frequent a chinese food restaurant here in town so often, that the owner, Lynn, would grab our baby as soon as we came in and just hold her the entire time while we ate dinner.
That is part of the fun if you “lean in” to the Buford Highway scene. One of the things you will miss about ATL. All the international places on Buford Highway are like this from across the world. When you are there, live as they do and enjoy the experience.
Dude I just wish someone would feed me all the time. Imagine how much I could get done if my hands were free at lunch time!
i just loved the look to the camera at the very end – priceless!
I saw your single ladies video. Hilarious! You seem like a great dad.
It happened so quick…and the best part was your face after you realized what occurred.
Yeah – I would have let her – why not?
That was really unexpected. I didn’t really see you having a choice there. She kinda just went for it.
At least you got a good story out of it. And boy you have your camera everywhere.
i would have let her. i feel awkward all the time, no reason to make her feel that way too.
I would’ve let her feed me. Saves me from having to do it myself.
She said, “I like-a big size.”
I just about fell out!
Some mornings, I just wake up juvenile! lol That’s what happens when you live in a house with five boys….you begin to think like one!
A similar thing happened to me and my husband in a Vietnamese restaurant. The owner ( a very sweet lady) started making a roll for us, and the next thing we knew she was doing exactly like this lady. I think Asian women tend to be very maternal and see everyone as their children. Not trying to stereotype because it’s a compliment really. Americans are very used to a very large circle of personal space. Most Asian cultures don’t have the luxury of personal space. So, that waitress was doing what comes natural to her…being a mama.
I would consider it an honour. This waitress was obviously feeling quite honoured (that you adopted a Korean child) and motherly/nostalgic at this moment. I spent the last 2 years teaching English to grade school children in Korea; this waitress reminds me of the women in my parents class. Once they felt comfortable with me (and became my Korean Moms), all personal boundaries that we are used to in North America were thrown out the window. I miss my students, Korean mothers, Korean BBQ and Kimchi Pa-Ching-Gay/Pancake (phonetic spelling – I may have been saying it wrong for 2 years also… but that’s what I ordered and they always got it right).
AAA Ha ha hah…. what a surprise she gave you! Ha ha ha Love the after look on your face. Like.. Wha??
My mom is Korean and she has often done this to my friends….. they didn’t really know what else to do but let her feed them. With family and friends personal space does not really exist in Korean etiquette
.
i watch Korean reality shows, and I’ve seen Koreans feed each other like this on the shows, so it is probably not as weird for her as it is for you.
I don’t think I’d have an issue with it. It’s kinda sweet and she just wanted to make sure you could enjoy the food the way it was meant to be eaten. I love Korean food. I hope you enjoyed it and weren’t offended by it like I know a lot of people would have been.
I left a comment on the youtube video comments section but I’m KA and it is a Korean culture thing. Feeding ssam to each other is a common social ssam culture. From older women it an be a motherly act but feeding food to one another is generally a pretty common in Korean culture. Waitresses don’t regularly feed customers ssam but if you go eat Korean BBQ with Koreans especially in a family setting there’s s high chance you’re going to get ssam fed to you especially when you’re the “foreigner” Korean food newbie. It’s pretty amazing how different Korean culture is from American culture.
I have to say that even I would be pretty awkward about being fed ssam like that from a stranger. A polite way to handle this next time is to say, “oh thank you, I got it” and take over the task of putting the ssam in your mouth.
I would have felt honoured. This lady was treating you as family, as a special person.
And yes, sometimes, cross-culturally, we feel awkward, and don’t know how to receive a gift like that.
(I once was invited to eat with a family of Greenland Inuit. I’m not a big fan of seal-blubber, but it would have been insulting to refuse.)
Check out what happened to this Haitian dude in Korea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrpRyozkmc8
I am amazed. Also, the food looks incredible! I will reiterate what I said yesterday, you have the most amusing life. Get a television show. Please.
oh mercy. that was good
So awesome….