Conversations at Woos

Gabriel sat comfortably on the couch, his face turned the color of a nicely cooked lobster shell as he downed a whiskey.

Gabriel: "Henry is a bit late tonite."
Cindy: "He enjoys being late. He likes to present himself as a businessman, always busy."

Gabriel downed another whiskey. That was better. He was feeling indifferent to things again. He could relax.

Cindy: "How's business?"
Gabriel: "Terrible. These Super Korean Marts are really ruining my business. How am I supposed to compete with them? They have everything."

Gabriel knew that Koreans loved food. They loved to eat. He thought he had it made when he opened up a grocery store, and now someone had opened the all-in-one grocery store.

Cindy: "Isn't that how capitalism works? If someone does it better than you, they are actually improving the grocery business. That's how progress occurs, isn't it?"

Gabriel: "I just don't like the fact that they have all this capital that they can use to build some humongous grocery store. They will lower their prices to wipe us out, and then, they will raise their prices. What's so great about that? The only reassuring thing is that someone with even greater capital will think up some better way of selling groceries over the internet or something and they will wipe out the Super Korean Mart."

Henry arrived with a smirk on his face:
"I'm up 10%."

He didn't have to say anything else. Both Gabriel and I felt inferior to him.

Cindy: "Blacks are giving you some love."
Henry: "Blacks are recession-proof. They need their haircare products. Who cares where they get their money from. They're making me rich."
Gabriel: "Wait 'til Super Beauty World comes in and wipes YOU out."
Henry: "What's the point of worrying about something that hasn't happened?"

It was true. Businessmen had not figured out the ethnic market. Perhaps Magic Johnson and others had figured it out, but they weren't selling beauty supplies. This was a market dominated by Koreans and Korean-Americans. Jews had entered this market and they had left. There were blacks in the market, but they were not as hard-working as Koreans. The Korean immigrants had to make sure their store was successful or their kids would not go to Harvard or Yale. The Korean immigrants also wanted to live the American Dream. First they would work in stores, owned by their cousins. Then, they would have their own stores. With the money that they made, they would send their sons and daughters to Harvard and Yale, and their sons and daughters would become doctors, lawyers, or businessmen. They would learn how to adopt to the environment. They would bring happiness to the parents who would live with their sons and daughters in theri old age, recognized for their excellent child-rearing skills and generosity.

Cindy: "It's bound to happen in the future."
Henry: "I will be the one to start the Super Beauty World store."

I was attracted to Henry. True he was arrogant but there was something about him. He had charisma. He made things exciting. And what of it? He was successful. Success made a man attractive. Henry. But he never looked at me, at least not directly. I wondered if was shy. What lay behind that smirk? Did he just think of me as a female friend? Or did the averted gaze mean something else, something more private. I did not know why I never asked him out on a date. Perhaps I did not wish to know. All love affairs were doomed from the start, anyway.

Gabriel: "Where are we going anyway? So let's suppose that you do build your Super Korean Mart. Let's suppose you find the girl of your dreams and that your sons or daughters become great lawyers, doctors, or businessmen. Do you seriously think that you are going to become a part of the fabric of American Society? Is your wife going to hobnob with Mr. and Mrs. Jones and have wonderful dinner parties, and are your kids going to marry American girls or boys? Is this your American Dream?"

Gabriel was not quite sure what he was trying to say. He felt a bit drunk. He had a twinkle in his eye.

Henry: "Everything except for marrying American girls and boys."

Gabriel: "And you think that you can have things exactly as you want it. You are going to suffer like hell Henry."

Cindy: "Gabriel, how would you know?"

Gabriel thought about what Cindy had just said. How did he know? He didn't know for sure. He thought about high school in which most of the kids thought of Koreans as ugly. Koreans got attention from teachers and parents by doing well in school. That was where their self-esteem came from. As for the social scene, Koreans would have to do all sorts of menial things to be accepted. In short, they were metaphorically castrated. Of course, that was his experience of being a Korean-American. He had felt so much pain in high school. Henry had come to the U.S. after he had graduated from a Korean high school. Did Henry know? Didn't he know that Korean were just liked from their brains?

Gabriel wondered if what he had just thought was true. It didn't seem to be true, but somehow he felt that it was true.

Gabriel: "I don't know." Then Gabriel smiled. "You're right. I really don't know what I am saying. All I really know is that Henry is my hero. I just feel like such a failure." Gabriel looked fuzzily at Henry. "The world is not what it seems. I don't know... I just don't know. Isn't the world wonderful? Look how radiant Cindy looks. Why am I saying such awful things about Americans and I don't know a single American. It's not like I lead a moral life, but I just wish for once that I could find some place where I belong. Do you know what I mean?"

Cindy: "Gabriel, you're drunk."
Gabriel: "Cindy, you feel it too, don't you? It's like they thought that we were a empty soul that could be turned into American soul. They just completely forgot about our bodies."
Henry: "Gabriel, stop. You're indulging in pity."
Gabriel: "You're right," Gabriel became upright. "I just feel that we really need to know the environment."
Cindy: "You're so immature Gabriel. Do you know how much America helped Korea out. It helped to rebuild Korea after the War."
Gabriel: "That's when America had the Communists as an enemy."
Cindy: "What are you saying... that we are the enemy now?"
Gabriel: "Why are you taking me so seriously?" Gabriel smiled a board Asian smile so that his eyes became two smiles.

Henry could not help laughing.

Gabriel: "It's hard when business is so fucking terrible. I needed a scapegoat!"

Cindy smiled.

Gabriel: "It's good to have friends."