If I Had Magical Powers

Ever since I was a child, I have dreamed about having magical powers. If I had magical powers, I’d first hope I didn’t have any restrictions on them. I would prefer to use my fingers for magic as opposed to having wands. Just more convenient, I think. 【小题1】

Transport

Traffic in Sydney is a nightmare which is why I take public transport to my job at the moment. 【小题2】 I like that I can read or write but I hate that I have to leave so early and get home so late. So yes, if I had magical powers, I’d just snap my fingers and wish hard for where I need to be! No time at all!

Cooking

【小题3】 Although I must admit my new pressure cooker is awesome for that, yet I still have to chop and prepare things. So my magical powers would certainly come in handy to make a good healthy meal quickly.

Teach Some People a Lesson

【小题4】 Not necessarily directed at me but to a lot of the kids I see in therapy. I really would love to teach bullies, abusers and other unkind souls a lesson. I don’t know how I’d do that really but maybe use my powers to have them experience what they put others through to get an actual idea of what it’s like.

Play with Time

I wouldn’t go backwards or forwards in time. 【小题5】 Rather, I would make time at work go by quickly and slow time down when I’m enjoying life. I guess though, given I would be using my powers to get rid of a lot of chores, I’m sure I’d have more time anyway for the things I love such as reading, writing and exercising.

Since I let go of my ayi before the Spring Festival, I’ve been on the look-out for a new one. My WeChat groups have recommended a Home King app, which has a more poetic Chinese name that means good health at home.

This app allows you to hire an ayi to either just clean, or cook + clean + watch kids, on a one-time basis. The sessions are four hours each and start from RMB 229. If you pay for a package of 25 sessions, it’ll cost you RMB 4,999 upfront, but ultimately comes out to less than RMB 200 per session. You can choose from a morning session from 8 a.m. to noon, or an afternoon session from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

One benefit of using the app is that they have a small army of ayis on standby and are ready to assign one to you at any time, though they do have a tendency to book out a few days in advance. Plus, once you find one that you really like, you can take note of her name and ask for her to return next time. This service also enjoys a reputation with many locals as being professional as well as friendly.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to hire an ayi through the app after you’ve downloaded it. After completing the registration, which is easiest by syncing with your WeChat account, you can choose either the blue button on the left for deep cleaning, or the orange button on the right for cooking, watching kids, and cleaning.

For instance, if you choose the deep-cleaning option on the left, on the next page click the second tab from the left. This lets you book an ayi for a single visit. Then click the button with the price on it to book your time slot (时段). Click the Buy Now button in the bottom right of the next page and click through the options until you get to the final page, where you’ll have to choose the date and time. To ensure how reliable the service is, a short message is always sent to you for confirmation.

It seems like people today are more easily offended than ever before.

If smoking in an elevator or talking in a movie theater were normal in the past, they are considered to be rude today. We used to be obliged to answer whatever questions a family elder directed our way, but now when a prying (爱打听的) relative asks about our test grades or dream university --- information that we’d rather keep to ourselves --- we feel offended, even if they mean well.

The boundary between “politeness” and “rudeness” has changed over the years, especially among young people.

But this change doesn’t just go one way --- things that used to be considered rude may also go across to the other side of the boundary. For example, to stand up for themselves, some youths may try to make statements by using phone cases printed with phrases like “Leave me alone” or “None of your business”. In their eyes, this is more like being independent than being rude.

“These phenomena involve rejecting previously moral order to ignore insults, recognize the good intentions of those who accidentally give offense, and be charitable (体谅的) toward those with whom we disagree,” wrote Time. “They suggest a new morality.”

And this fresh morality is introduced by a new group of people. According to The Economist, young people, or millennials (千禧一代), are “the best-educated generation ever”, which is why they tend to be more conscious about their privacy and personal space. They are also freer than previous generations, more eager to explore the world and refuse to be tied down by elders’ rules.

But there are, of course, people who think that millennials have gone too far to defend their own needs. An earlier Time article called millennials the “Me Me Me Generation”, saying that they are self-involved, less grateful and less tolerant of people.

But Lauren Martin, a lifestyle writer in the US, and a millennial herself, has a theory.

“Our generation is an anomaly (与众不同的事物),” she wrote on Elite Daily. “We refuse to do things their way, so they call us entitled. We refuse to sit in cubicles (办公室隔间), so they call us spoiled. We refuse to follow their plans, so they call us stubborn. What they are slowly realizing, however, is we’re not lazy, stubborn or entitled. We just refuse to accept things as they’re given to us.”