Tuesday, March 22, 2016

The Non-Answer Answer

A woman of Ma Lei's acquaintance went to the doctor for a new ultrasound. She asked the doctor what the sex is going to be. Chinese docs aren't allowed to say, but they often do anyway. In this case, however, either the doc was unusually law-abiding, or perhaps Ma Lei's acquaintance didn't know she's supposed to slip the doc some extra cash for the information. Maybe the doc just couldn't see, but in that case she probably would've just said so. 
So the woman asked the doctor whether she should buy blue baby clothes, or pink. 
"I think yellow is a nice color," said the doctor.
"Will my parents be disappointed, or happy?" (Older generation Chinese still strongly favor boys, though that attitude is fading among the young.)
"I'm sure they'll be very happy it's so healthy."
Finally, the woman asked in exasperation, "Will my baby be described as handsome, or beautiful?!"
"Actually, on a sonogram they all look pretty ugly!"
The patient finally gave up and went home without the desired information.

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