Madness Continuum

[Vung Tau, 3/25/25]

On the bus to Ba Ria yesterday, I opened the window to enjoy a better view, and also the breeze. Within three minutes, the woman behind me reached over to half close the window. She was apparently cold. It was 77 degrees. No older than 30, she was masked, so terrified of catching Covid, measels, chicken pox, glorious life, free flowing oxygen and my musky aroma. My stench index is only slightly worse than average. You, too, know many people who equate fear with security.

Arriving, the first photo I took was of this sign, “nous / MUMKIDS / STYLEKOREA.” Although everything is significant, most refuse to see. Nous means we in French. Mum is British English. Stylekorea should be Korean style. This linguistic jumble or confusion still serves its purpose because it is foreign, thus high class. Just over a block away was Retro High Tea and Coffee. Although high tea is a British tradition, all the framed illustrations inside show Italian cities. High tea itself is a misnomer. What they really mean is low tea, a high class tradition.