A hard case ending
"The following is a true story and happened to a friend last Friday," writes Garry. "I have not used their real names, in case it causes embarrassment. Greg delivers flowers for a local florist and recently, while delivering to a new address, was met by the recipient, Mildred who was chatting with friends at the gate. Mildred and her husband Ron used to be neighbours of Greg and so after chatting for a while, Greg asked if Ron was at home. Mildred said, 'Yes, he's in his workshop', and so Greg went down to the garage/workshop. On entering he found a small group of people there and so asked, 'Is this the workshop?' The response was, 'Yes', and so Greg asked, 'Is Ron here'? 'Yes, he's over there', and stepped aside to reveal Ron - much to Greg's surprise, in a funeral casket."
Little emperors at university
Universities in China offer parents a pup tent, set up en-masse in the gym, near the student accommodation to help settle their kids in at university. While some parents come with toothpaste, toilet paper and unsolicited advice on the acceptable price of steamed dumplings, other bring hot noodles, sit in on classes or scrub their dorm room floor. So are these parents coddling the generation of only children? Older generations of Chinese, who suffered through extreme poverty and the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, have criticised parents saying they are raising children unaccustomed to hardship, but the parents said they were nervous about sending their only children long distances and couldn't afford accommodations in big cities. "There are too many things to carry and I need their help," said Yvonne Wong, 22. "Also, she added, "they might as well see how the university is. It's something to be proud of." (Via the New York Times)
