THE Chinese have found a shipwreck in deep waters of the South China Sea. That reminds me of a story of a colleague of mine who recovered the remains of a coastal trader five miles off the coast of Vietnam. It was a tricky operation, given that the war had only ended a few years before and everyone was still touchy. Getting all the dive gear into that part of the world was just the start of the trouble. It called for the utmost diplomacy and a word spoken at the wrong time could have led to disaster, what with the Chinese lurking about and the Vietcong in firm control of the area.
Which reminds me of a story about his wife. Some years after the debacle off the coast of Vietnam, twenty of us gathered at his house for a dinner party. That night, she enhanced her own reputation as a stellar cook with the feast she had prepared. Her meals were of the kind that I did not eat for the entire day so as to fully partake of her vittles. After dinner, we assembled in the living room to swap stories of high adventure from around the world, each guest trying to outdo the last with tales of daring, risk, and bodily injury. My own story was not very exciting, but just as I wound up for the big finale, in walked my friend’s wife with the most unbelievably grotesque thing stuck to the hem of her dress. Since she had just come from the bathroom, we could not imagine how it got there in the first place.
Which reminds me of a story about an old Chinese man in San Fransisco. I craved moo goo gai pan for dinner so I wandered the streets of Chinatown, looking for a good place to eat. I found a noodle shop that I had been to before, but it was not the right place for what I wanted. As I turned a corner, I saw the most unusual man sitting on a bench. He looked to be about two hundred years old, but next to him on the bench was something you never would have guessed.
Which reminds me of the leper with tattoos on Molokai. First off, I have only been to Molokai once, and I did visit the old leper colony while I was there, but that does not fully explain what I saw. What leper in his right mind would ever get a tattoo? And what tattoo parlor would serve him? The combination of their needles and his skin, it just boggles the mind. But, what really tops it is what the leper chose for his tattoo. Some may have thought it was funny, or even ironic, but I just thought it was creepy and in poor taste.
Which reminds me of the Spring Break with the admiral’s daughter. Yes, she was good looking in a loose kind of way. In fact, most of the guys who dated her did so because she was fun to show off. But I was strictly interested in her because she made great shrimp and grits, and that is hard to come by in the Pacific. Typically, the best shrimp and grits come from the southern United States, so you can imagine my delight when I found out she grew up in New Orleans. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not explain how I was found dressed as a clown and she ended up in a zoot suit. It is actually not that complicated.
Which reminds me of the night I spent in a Singapore jail. It was a huge misunderstanding. Anyway, about that shipwreck the Chinese found in the South China Sea.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for over 30 years. He is a director and historian at Sealark Exploration.
BC Cook
