Surprise Symphony

Was not this summer hot? In fact, I could not stay at home in the sunny weather as if the Korean autumn weather.

As soon as I saw my husband off with a lunchbox, I went out. I was wandering around opera performances, jazz festivals, art museums and parks, etc. I came home in the evening and fell to sleep.

The weather on the last Sunday in September was very nice. I planned to meet friend at the Lincoln Center to see the concert, so I dressed myself up. I was walking elegantly out of the subway and the phone rang. "Where are you? Where are you putting your mind at?” I was surprised by the angry voice of my husband.

"What have you put on the gas fire? Go home quickly.” I thought that I came out without turning off the fire of the soybean pasta soup pot for dinner preparation. I snatched a taxi in a hurry. I told the taxi driver about the matter and asked to go quickly. “It doesn’t make a fire something put on the gas fire,” he said.

The doorman had no keys, and the super with the keys was out of the way. Thinking about the fire-burning condo, I was killed in a taxi driving through.

The driver dropped me off at the condo corner and said, "Look. There’s no fire.” But the smell of soybean pasta soup burnt out of the building and the inside it was beyond description. The doorman was also embarrassed and said he was sorry that he had no choice, so the firefighter had to break the door in the end.

When I went up to my apartment, the firefighter poured water into the pot and all windows were opened. The doorknob was broken, and the door is cracked and the paint was peeled.

I was embarrassed, sorry, and thankful for the comfort of my neighbors that the curtains in the kitchen did not catch fire.

How long have I been careful to avoid the smell of soybean pasta! It was hard to smile gracefully or to pretend to be noble to avoid the impression that Asians smell and make trouble. I was also concerned about getting in and out of the apartment whenever the doorman in uniform opens the door and lifts the goods to the elevator, should I give them a tip? Or not?

"Don’t prepare dinner when you go out in the future." At last I guess I’ll be freed from the preparing dinner.