Doggie Appetizer?

Okay So I've been totally out of the loop for this blog thing. I thought we were doing it in order? Oh well, I'll blog anyways even if I'm not suppose to . Lol.

So I got a puppy a few weeks ago & I'm extremely excited but I feel so pooped because it is LITERALLY like having a kid. Jesus. Anyway, I work at a Asian food joint & I brought the little guy in to let him meet my manager. A group of regular customers ( older asian american men) came up to us & immediately told me to take it away from my manager ( who is a chinese woman) because she will cook him for an appetizer. I nervously giggled at the comment but almost instantly I thought about Asian American Cultures class because this topic has been brought up previously. I looked at my manager & she just ignored the comment and kept her eyes on my puppy (his name is Kupid btw).

I was quite offended by the comment although I knew it was a harmless joke, my guard went up. A couple of moments later before they left, one man came up to the register & before he said his good-bye's he reminded me to be careful about my puppy. I mean AGAIN?! Do you need to remind me AGAIN?! That is like my baby, you are warning me about being eaten. Not cool.

I freely googled " Why do asians eat dog?" & many forums, question-answer sites, and archives came up as results. Immediately we conclude that this tradition is "wrong", "weird" and "WRONG". We all know that the world has it's own share of ignorant people. People who continue to judge others and their culture rather than respecting it. Moreover, having people who reply to these forums by saying " Because asians are weird." only pisses off the the individuals who are knowledgeable about the dog eating issue among Asians, particularly the Koreans and Chinese.

According to Korea Animal Rights Advocates(KARA), the Chinese have been eating dogs for the last 7,000 years. It became a tradition for the Chinese and it was copied by the Koreans at some point. The dog meat was a delicacy before, but is very rarely seen in the U.S. As americans, some can freely eat cows, chicken, and pig with no problem. But because we are familiar with having dogs as our pets, we have trouble imagining their puppy on their dinner plate. In all, dog eating was a part of their asian culture. We, as americans also have our own crazy culture. Just because it is something Americans do not agree on, it doesn't allow us to disrespect the culture of others.

When do you EVER see "DOG" on the menus of Korean/Chinese joints here in America? Never. So stop feeding the stereotype.

-dolene