Unable to resist a colleague's repeated invitations, my husband and I bought a gift and went to visit.
His home was spotless, with a living room spacious enough for a small gathering. However, I felt uncomfortable from the moment we entered, and This feeling grew as time went on. First, we had to wear disposable slippers upon entering. They were uncomfortable, flat-soled and soft, and slippery after getting a bit wet in the bathroom, making each step cautious. My husband went further, wearing a blue plastic bag over his sandals, also disposable. I guessed the host had just moved in and hadn’t prepared proper slippers, leaving them no choice.
Once seated, each of us held a disposable paper cup filled with steaming hot tea. Before the meal, the host quickly laid a disposable plastic sheet on the table. The food was brought from a restaurant, served in disposable containers with disposable chopsticks. My husband and I awkwardly finished the meal and then found an excuse to leave.
As we were leaving, following the instructions of his cleanliness-conscious wife, my colleague carried a large plastic bag of all the disposable items down the stairs, slammed it into the trash, and warmly invited us to visit again. My husband whispered: “Such a gathering is enough just once.”