Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -and still going!
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I've continued with a monologue a day until the spirit moves me to stop - if you have any ideas for a monologue you want me to write, please let me know at tigerteam1@gmail.com.
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Monologue Mania Day # 1269 Chicken Feet Soup and The Joy Luck Party by Janet S. Tiger (c) Aug. 5, 2017
Chicken Feet Soup and The Joy Luck Party(c)
(with apologies to Amy Tan)
Chicken Feet Soup and The Joy Luck Party(c)
(with apologies to Amy Tan)
by Janet S. Tiger (c) 2017 all rights reserved
tigerteam1@gmail.com
(Okay, you know the 'actor' this time is a not-so-thinly disguised .....me. And maybe this is not a monologue, but more of a remembrance, but I just had to use this title! You'll see why....)
Like many unusual events, it started slowly, a direct correlation of the chicken feet.
My daughter wanted soup that was gelatinous, and so she went to the specialty store near us, and purchased a bag of.....chicken feet.
She boiled the feet for 12 hours, and was very happy with the result. But then, the sadness. What to do with the chicken feet? They were not needed in the gelatin - in fact the feet had to be strained out of the gelatin.
So my daughter was left with....have you guessed?...a very large bag of.....chicken feet.
Now, anyone who knows me already is aware of a slight problem I have with throwing away perfectly good food. Okay, even food that is slightly going.....okay, I only throw away if the food is green, furry or talks back to me.
So, I took the bag of boiled chicken feet (boy, I just love saying that!) and proceeded to try to....give it to a deserving neighbor. Which meant walking down the street with ...a bag of chicken feet. A lovely sight, made even more memorable by the very concept of the idea.
My first neighbors were polite, they know me and understand I have difficulty discarding ANYTHING but that food is a particularly arduous task.....so I approached the second group, the third......no one home, then someone, but they don't want the feet......and then I got to Joy, a new neighbor from China who is vigilant about getting her new home in order. She was outside, working on her porch. This is a busy woman! But she stopped and she heard my plea for a new home for the chicken feet, then gently reminded me she was....a vegetarian. The sadness on my face was evident, as I trudged away to other homes, other rejections. On my way back, she was still working on the porch and I went over to tell her the news of no chicken foot acceptance by the rest of the block.
She was understanding, and I explained that for me, it was hard to throw away good food. She looked at me and said that of course it was.....that throwing away good food was like.....give away luck. I liked that so much! It captured my imagination, and I told her I was going to write a monologue with the title. (See Day # 1263 -Give Away Luck) As I was about to leave, she stopped me and said, please wait, maybe my daughter wants the chicken feet - my daughter eats meat. She went to ask, and when she returned, her face was all abeam. Yes! Her daughter would take the feet!
So I left them with her, gone from my mind until I got a text today - there was going to be a party. A 'don't waste your luck' party! With the main dish being......chicken feet soup!
She had made some and, as happy as people were about a party, they were unsure of the feet, so were adding things like, steak, and potatoes and corn and salad (I brought that) and imitation crab and drinks and coffee cake and chocolate cookies (naturally I brought that) and it was a wonderful spur of the moment party in the middle of the summer with the neighborhood of friends and family (several people brought the parents they are caring for) and the weather was perfect, and the sun set as a full moon rose while we laughed and it was......a lovely event.
The Joy Luck Party - started by the given away chicken feet - is on its way. And the luck started that night has become a special part of all the participants lives. So if you want some extra luck.....grab yourself some chicken feet (or other food item that you no longer want!) and make some good luck!
(Turns to leave, stops, looks back)
My daughter- she was out of town for the party, so we saved her some chicken feet soup.....and there's still some left, so if you want some....follow me.......to some good luck.....
(Exits......on the chicken feet)
---------------------------------------------------
And thank you, Joy - and Jeff and Mike and all those who came- for a great party, and the beginning of a wonderful new tradition on our block!
tigerteam1@gmail.com
(Okay, you know the 'actor' this time is a not-so-thinly disguised .....me. And maybe this is not a monologue, but more of a remembrance, but I just had to use this title! You'll see why....)
Like many unusual events, it started slowly, a direct correlation of the chicken feet.
My daughter wanted soup that was gelatinous, and so she went to the specialty store near us, and purchased a bag of.....chicken feet.
She boiled the feet for 12 hours, and was very happy with the result. But then, the sadness. What to do with the chicken feet? They were not needed in the gelatin - in fact the feet had to be strained out of the gelatin.
So my daughter was left with....have you guessed?...a very large bag of.....chicken feet.
Now, anyone who knows me already is aware of a slight problem I have with throwing away perfectly good food. Okay, even food that is slightly going.....okay, I only throw away if the food is green, furry or talks back to me.
So, I took the bag of boiled chicken feet (boy, I just love saying that!) and proceeded to try to....give it to a deserving neighbor. Which meant walking down the street with ...a bag of chicken feet. A lovely sight, made even more memorable by the very concept of the idea.
My first neighbors were polite, they know me and understand I have difficulty discarding ANYTHING but that food is a particularly arduous task.....so I approached the second group, the third......no one home, then someone, but they don't want the feet......and then I got to Joy, a new neighbor from China who is vigilant about getting her new home in order. She was outside, working on her porch. This is a busy woman! But she stopped and she heard my plea for a new home for the chicken feet, then gently reminded me she was....a vegetarian. The sadness on my face was evident, as I trudged away to other homes, other rejections. On my way back, she was still working on the porch and I went over to tell her the news of no chicken foot acceptance by the rest of the block.
She was understanding, and I explained that for me, it was hard to throw away good food. She looked at me and said that of course it was.....that throwing away good food was like.....give away luck. I liked that so much! It captured my imagination, and I told her I was going to write a monologue with the title. (See Day # 1263 -Give Away Luck) As I was about to leave, she stopped me and said, please wait, maybe my daughter wants the chicken feet - my daughter eats meat. She went to ask, and when she returned, her face was all abeam. Yes! Her daughter would take the feet!
So I left them with her, gone from my mind until I got a text today - there was going to be a party. A 'don't waste your luck' party! With the main dish being......chicken feet soup!
She had made some and, as happy as people were about a party, they were unsure of the feet, so were adding things like, steak, and potatoes and corn and salad (I brought that) and imitation crab and drinks and coffee cake and chocolate cookies (naturally I brought that) and it was a wonderful spur of the moment party in the middle of the summer with the neighborhood of friends and family (several people brought the parents they are caring for) and the weather was perfect, and the sun set as a full moon rose while we laughed and it was......a lovely event.
The Joy Luck Party - started by the given away chicken feet - is on its way. And the luck started that night has become a special part of all the participants lives. So if you want some extra luck.....grab yourself some chicken feet (or other food item that you no longer want!) and make some good luck!
(Turns to leave, stops, looks back)
My daughter- she was out of town for the party, so we saved her some chicken feet soup.....and there's still some left, so if you want some....follow me.......to some good luck.....
(Exits......on the chicken feet)
---------------------------------------------------
And thank you, Joy - and Jeff and Mike and all those who came- for a great party, and the beginning of a wonderful new tradition on our block!
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* Note: A few words about 'free' - all these monologues are protected under copyright law and are free to read, free to perform and video as long as no money is charged. Once you charge admission or a donation, or include my work in an anthology, you need to contact me for royalty
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Janet S. Tiger 858-736-6315 CaregiversAnon.org
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
2 comments:
Lovely story!
Thanks for writing this article to record an meaningful event from a good thought originated from yourself.
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