Nation Dying by Consent

[Vung Tau, 5/31/25]

I arrived at the café outside New Market just after 3AM. On the way, I passed lit oases of people eating at low plastic tables, or clustered around food stalls. Selling assorted sticky rice, a lady under a conical hat laughed. Over a century ago, Phạm Quỳnh chastised his countrymen for over laughing.

The phrase for being mirthful, buồn cười, means, literally, sad laugh, so you’re saddened into laughter. Buồn nôn is nauseated. You’re saddened into throwing up. Tức cười means being angered into laughter. These laughable notions are baked into this mirthful lingo.

A year ago in Vung Tau, a drunk driver hit five or six people, killing three, before slamming into a utility pole. Just hours later at a café nearby, I heard a man laughing about how she stopped right in front of a driving school. Of course, it’s buồn cười. Realizing how bad she was at steering her missile on wheels, this laughing boozer had to injure and kill while rushing to the academy. Mission accomplished.