Funny Old World

 "It's a miracle for a funeral parlour to become famous for its rice noodles," an unnamed worker in the canteen of the Erlong Funeral Home told reporters in Kaili, Guizhou province "but it has become a serious problem. "We are not open to the public, we are only here to serve relatives and friends of families holding funeral services. But now there are hundreds of people pretending to be relatives of the deceased, sneaking in just to get a bowl of noodles. It's hard to tell them apart when it gets crowded, and the queues are now so long that legitimate diners sometimes have to wait a couple of hours to get their food. The queue for food is longer than the queue to lay flowers for the deceased..

The Old Master
James Hayllar (1829-1920)
Photo Credit: Nottingham City Museum & Galleries [CC BY-NC] 

"Many people rave about our rice noodles because our chefs are exceptionally skilled. We use only fresh ingredients, our broth is simmered with pig bones for hours and our chilli sauce comes from a secret recipe. To meet the demand, we are offering 50 bowls of noodles to the public every day - for free - so long as they do not affect other people's mourning."

Members of the public observed that "perhaps the chefs should start a public restaurant called Funeral Home Rice Noodles." Another added that "I heard their noodles were very good, I thought about how short life was, so I sneaked in and got another bowl.

(South China Morning Post, 2025, Private Eye, No 1645)

What a delightful story - one that somewhat counterbalances  the negative aspects of the world we presently live in. Many congratulations to the skilled chefs who by their expertise have created unforeseen problems!