# Korean Grocery Poetry Jam

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 27, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379 "2001-08-27T19:46:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/21 "2001-09-15T15:17:39Z")

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[sub][…cough…] racism […cough…][/sub]

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**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/22 "2001-09-15T16:10:23Z")

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Faded flyers flutter  
From the front of the foreign foodstore.

Into the inky interior I enter,  
Expectations of exotic eats entice me.

Strange symbols on cylinders surround me.  
Spam?

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**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/23 "2001-09-15T18:07:34Z")

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Bodaga, I shop in a place called Bodaga.  
I buy all their strange food, cause it all takes good.  
Bodaga.

New York City has all the bodagas.  
Food in strange tastes and strange flavas.  
Bodaga, let’s hear it for New York  
BODAGAS.

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**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/24 "2001-09-16T02:45:53Z")

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Gravity wrote:

> [@](#):
>
> 🙂
> 
> Ok, so I amused myself.

Well, I hope you remembered to wipe it off afterward. It’ll get all dried out and sticky if you don’t.

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**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/25 "2001-09-16T02:52:55Z")

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Oh, and just to keep with the topic of this thread:

\<ahem\>

_SEOUUUUUUUUUL TRAIN!_

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**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/26 "2001-09-16T07:24:16Z")

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Oh corner store, corner store  
Handy and neat  
What more could I ask  
Than you on my street!  
I always find something  
Delicious to eat  
Oh corner store, corner store  
You can’t be beat!

In my neighbourhood they’re mostly Chinese owned, but I guess it still applys!

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**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/27 "2001-09-16T12:42:16Z")

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Chinese grocer, love your stock  
For food that I cook in a wok  
Your fish-sauce stock I’d never ban  
(Three Crabs: it comes from ol’ Thailand  
and can’t be found outside your store  
I looked for years, I look no more)  
I love the jars of Hoisin paste  
Your candy aisle has stuff I’ll taste  
But Chinese grocer, this I see  
You sell things…eventually  
You get weird food  
That oft tastes swell  
But there is one thing I would tell  
you: expire dates should be your pal  
Or someday you will land in jail.  
When someone dies ('twas almost me!)  
From Shrimp Paste that expired in '73.  
Or jars of pickled pickled eel eyes  
That say “Don’t use past '75”  
You’re friendly, nice and have great stuff  
You just don’t clean your shelves enough!  
Oh Chinese Grocer, you’re a great guy  
Unless your stock doth make me die.

Fenris, who was serious about everything _except_ the eel-eyes. But who things pickled eel eyes would be a great conversation piece for one’s pantry: “Hey Doug! Spaghetti’ll be ready in a minute. Gimme the big jar with the red cap, wouldja? Yeah, it’s looking at you. So?”

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**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/28 "2001-09-16T13:33:18Z")

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They’re too literal with their  
“thousand year eggs,”  
and I never eat dead things  
that are growing new legs –  
Frightening Korean grocery.

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**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/29 "2001-09-16T16:07:02Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Libertarian \*  
> \*\*[sub][…cough…] racism […cough…][/sub] \*\*

Oh, grow up. I’m death on racism, and I don’t see any here. I see a celebration of one of the myriad cultures that make America great. Korean food can be odd. So can Thai food, and Russian food and Scott food and American food ( Pickled pig’s feet, anyone?). Laughing about that while giving kudos to aspects of said food is not racist.

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**Author:** ![jiney17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jiney17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jiney17)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/30 "2001-09-16T16:54:13Z")

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quoth weird dave:  
“Oh, grow up. I’m death on racism, and I don’t see any here. I see a celebration of one of the myriad cultures that make America great. Korean food can be odd. So can Thai food, and Russian food and Scott food and American food ( Pickled pig’s feet, anyone?). Laughing about that while giving kudos to aspects of said food is not racist.”

Yeah but I don’t believe that monitorlizzard’s post was especially p.c.

quoth monitorlizzard:

"Along came Kim,  
Along came Kim,  
Skipped out on the draft…  
came here on a raft…  
now he runs an all night grocery store.

Along came Kim,  
Short yellow Kim,  
his country makes cheap cars…  
his movies don’t got stars…  
and he eats things we wouldn’t feed to our hogs."

#1. This is an extremely sterotypical view of a Korean person. Asian people are not yellow. They are not all short. They did not come over on rafts (isn’t that the stereotype for Cubans anyway?–and no, I am not being racist by saying that. If you think I am, then you are being ridiculous). Finally, the last line is patently ridiculous since “we” doesn’t seem to include all the people who enjoy kim chee and bul gogi and other korean delicacies on a regular basis (It’s just cabbage and beef, when you come down to it, anyway).

Besides, there are plenty of foods within each ethnicity that outsiders find disgusting. However, saying that you “wouldn’t feed [it] to…hogs” is over the top childishness and just plain rude.

#2 I believe the comment on racism was in reply to monitorlizzards’ “poem”

#3 But most everyone else’s poetry was very funny and sweet. Thank you.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/31 "2001-09-16T19:18:14Z")

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O.K., I can see that. That one slipped by me. I thought most of the others were cute, tho. Previous statement retracted. I misread the comment as being about poems about Korean grocery stores in general.

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**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/32 "2001-09-17T00:02:40Z")

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Jeepers, take it to the Pit- we’re actually trying to have some fun in here.

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**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-grocery-poetry-jam/78379/33 "2001-09-17T02:46:07Z")

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_Manyag ae kimchi ga obsottdora myun  
mousun masuro pabul mogulgga?  
[mo mo mo mo mo mo mo mo…]  
Chong mal kimchi obshi mot sara, mot sara!_

(I don’t quite know the words!)

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