"Lucky chengs..is the place I wanna go"....says my Manager standing at my office door. I was like "ya sure...but, what is it??" ....my manager, 'its a place where you will see 6ft tall women entertaining you...' . I asked him, 'are you sure...?? should we go ahead and book a table ...'. He walked away saying 'ya, Mareen is doing the honors...' and we 15 of us landed at this place (it was my manager's send off party and he got to choose where he wanted to go).
'Lucky Chengs' was way downtown (1Ave/2st) NYC and the place looked very shady. My manager and couple more were excited....and rest of us had no idea (atleast me) what this place was like. The place was dimly lit.. and there was nobody yet (it was only 7pm)...we stood near the bar while they checked our IDs and let us order our drinks. Then I suddenly saw something unsual at the bar..the bar attendant was a Drag Queen (A drag queen, usually a man, who dresses, and usually acts, like a women for the purpose of entertaining or performing)...so this place was a drag queen show place. Some of us looked at each other and just continued with the flow. With a little unease I was trying to smile and look away...(this was ofcourse my first time at a place like this).
Our table was set and we all settled in.... the food was a set menu...so the food was served faster (food was not so great though). People started coming in and other tables started filling up. I was still at unease and sat there thinking of an excuse to leave the place early. But then the show started. One of the Drag Queens started talking from behind the scene. Then she (i would like to address as she) came over introduced herself saying she was from Singapore...loves NYC and its been a decade since she moved here(she talked abt her family and how she was distanced because her parents were worried abt the soceity etc). Then she introduced her 2 business partners who run this place along with her. They briefly gave an introduction of how they run the restaurant and they were very grateful to have all of us over to see their show. There were 3 Drag Queens and they were the staff, cooks, business partners ...everything there. All the three performed and then the last step was to call on 2 people from each table and do a performance (two of my colleagues got up). My manager was a happy little kid at the end and we all walked out thanking them for their wonderful show.
I was a bit taken back to see these people so closely and to know their life. I was ashamed of myself for being so ignorant and unaware. They are humans too...if they are not normal its not their fault isn't it or I should say they are normal as per them and we are normal as per us. So, we have no right to say anything. They were such great people I must say....very humble, very human.
I definitely walked out with a different perspective towards life... there is so much beyond our daily lives ...there is so much beyond our career..our own family...our own problems..etc etc..
A small alteration in our own brain takes us a long way...
'Lucky Chengs' was way downtown (1Ave/2st) NYC and the place looked very shady. My manager and couple more were excited....and rest of us had no idea (atleast me) what this place was like. The place was dimly lit.. and there was nobody yet (it was only 7pm)...we stood near the bar while they checked our IDs and let us order our drinks. Then I suddenly saw something unsual at the bar..the bar attendant was a Drag Queen (A drag queen, usually a man, who dresses, and usually acts, like a women for the purpose of entertaining or performing)...so this place was a drag queen show place. Some of us looked at each other and just continued with the flow. With a little unease I was trying to smile and look away...(this was ofcourse my first time at a place like this).
Our table was set and we all settled in.... the food was a set menu...so the food was served faster (food was not so great though). People started coming in and other tables started filling up. I was still at unease and sat there thinking of an excuse to leave the place early. But then the show started. One of the Drag Queens started talking from behind the scene. Then she (i would like to address as she) came over introduced herself saying she was from Singapore...loves NYC and its been a decade since she moved here(she talked abt her family and how she was distanced because her parents were worried abt the soceity etc). Then she introduced her 2 business partners who run this place along with her. They briefly gave an introduction of how they run the restaurant and they were very grateful to have all of us over to see their show. There were 3 Drag Queens and they were the staff, cooks, business partners ...everything there. All the three performed and then the last step was to call on 2 people from each table and do a performance (two of my colleagues got up). My manager was a happy little kid at the end and we all walked out thanking them for their wonderful show.
I was a bit taken back to see these people so closely and to know their life. I was ashamed of myself for being so ignorant and unaware. They are humans too...if they are not normal its not their fault isn't it or I should say they are normal as per them and we are normal as per us. So, we have no right to say anything. They were such great people I must say....very humble, very human.
I definitely walked out with a different perspective towards life... there is so much beyond our daily lives ...there is so much beyond our career..our own family...our own problems..etc etc..
A small alteration in our own brain takes us a long way...
