8/14/2019 All I Really Needed to Know, I Learned in a Chinese Laundry

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All I Really Needed to Know,I Learned in a Chinese LaundryJohn JungKeynote Address, Who’s Who in Asian American Communities in Georgia Gala,Omni Hotel, Atlanta, Ga. April 29, 2006.

Distinguished honorees, ladies and gentlemen: I am honored to have the privilegeto speak to you on this wonderful occasion… I am most impressed with what avibrant and energetic sense of community there is among the members of Atlanta's

Asian Americans. In contrast, when I was living in Macon, we had a much smallercommunity…my family…we were the COMMUNITY… and when we finally left in the mid1950s, the Chinese community was gone! The local paper noted it was the first timein 100 years that there were no Chinese in town… it was not clear from the articlewhether the writer was relieved or saddened!

A few years ago, in reflecting on my family’s life in Macon__ our culturallyisolation for over 25 years, being the solitary Chinese, or Asian, for thatmatter, family in town during an era of a highly segregated society before thecivil rights movement, I was inspired to write a memoir, SOUTHERN FRIED RICE, torecord our family’s life in Macon and in a small way help preserve and share a bitof Chinese American history that few people outside of the South know about. Thereisn’t time enough tonight to go into any detail about our family story so I want

to say a few things about growing up in a Chinese laundry.

Let me BEGIN with what might seem to be a digression: I’ll bet none of you knewthat this past Thursday was: “TAKE YOUR CHILD TO WORK WITH YOU” Day …The premisebeing: it’s good for kids to learn what their parents do at work, even ifthey gofor only 1 day.

I, too, had the chance to watch my parents work when I was growing up. I workedwith my parents in the laundry... not just 1 day a year, but EVERYDAY so that Ioften hated having to work in the laundry,... but I now must admit it did teach mesome valuable lessons.

What “lessons” did I ‘learn’ from watching my parents work?

The Nature of Work1. Work is hard. Ben Franklin, as we all know said, “Early to bed, early to rise... well, he never talked to a Chinese laundryman because even though my parentswent to bed early and got up early… six days a week, 52 wks a year, it did notexactly make them any healthier, or wealthier, ... but perhaps wiser. 2. The Peter Principle (If it can go wrong, it will) also applies in the Laundry.When the hired help doesn’t come in, the work must still be done. When machinerybreaks down, the work must still be done… And as with President Harry Truman, thebuck stops here... with my parents who stillhad to get the work done on time.

How to Deal with People3. The customer always thinks he is right... even when he is wrong.For example, some customers thought we had lost their clothing articles but theylater admitted they had never brought them in to the laundry... but had misplacedor left at home.

4. Golden Rule: Treat customers the way you wanted to be treated. This approachdid not always work, but it was a good starting point and usually worked. 5. Learn how to ‘read’ or size up customers. I learned to pick easy to servecustomers to wait on ... and let my father deal with the obnoxious ones.

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Use Your Intellect or Brain6. Dealing with many illiterate customers, white and black, quickly taught me thevalue of being able to read and write and why education is so important.

7. Learn Problem Solving skills:For example: Lost tickets were the bane of our existence... by the way, just howthe mocking expression, “No tick-ee, no wash-ee,” arose is a mystery to me. No

Chinese laundryman said that because we always found the customer's laundry, evenwithout a ticket. But we had to open, and rewrap, many bundles to find the rightclothes.This taught me to develop strategies for finding a customer’s clothes efficiently.

8. Develop Organization and Memory Skills because "Time is money:"In a laundry, you have to do more than just wash and iron clothes; after that youmust sort and reassemble finished items for each customer and to do thisefficiently you need to be organized and have a good memory.

9. Money Does Not Grow On Trees, (although it sometimes fell out of clothes).Our parents did not indulge us, or themselves, with material items, but theyalways found the way to provide for essential needs especially if it had to do

with our schoolwork.

Family Involvement Is Vital10. Family cooperation is essential for survival... we all had to pitch in andwork together in order to make a living.

These lessons were invaluable in helping me succeed throughout life. Now I want toconclude by contrasting two very different conceptions of laundry life The first, I will call the Customer’s “Romantic” Philosophy of The Laundry(imagine background music “Laundryman, My Laundryman”…to the tune of Chinatown.My Chinatown”)

There was an OLD commercial in which:A white customer asks the Chinese laundryman: How do you get the shirts so white?The Laundryman’s proud but sly Answer: ANCIENT CHINESE SECRET!

In other words: We, Chinese were IMBUED by the white ad writer with magic-likepower to transform dirty, smelly clothes into clean fragrant clothes. Thisstereotype shows that society saw Chinese as experts, but only in this one area oflaundry work.

Now contrast that view which what I call: A “Realistic” Philosophy of Laundry...one that might represent the view of the Chinese laundryman:

Children, you should aspire to something higher than doing laundry; control your

own future with knowledge and education. Our laundry will provide the financialsupport for you to get this valuable education.

In conclusion…we must recognize that successful though we may be, we did NOT do italone. We stood on the shoulders of our parents and families, a strength of ourAsian cultures. Tonight, in honoring these 67 outstanding members of the Who’s Whoin Asian American communities, I think I can safely say that we are at the sametime honoring their parents and families who supported them in pursing theirdreams.