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Just before we start, this episode contains some strong language and descriptions of violence.

When our restaurant was firebombed, it was kind of like this puzzle for my eight-year-old

brain that didn't quite fit together.

And I didn't have all the pieces. I just had these half remembered scenes and as I got older I sort of collected more info more of these puzzle pieces and it only came together really slowly. In some ways I still

don't have all the pieces and it wasn't just like this for me. Other restaurant kids say they've had the same experience.

Like, take Josh for example, his dad worked in the kitchen of the Ling Nan restaurant which was attacked a few months after hours.

And the thing he remembers most clearly about that time isn't the fear or the racism.

It was a kind of game, a roulette game, but with canned food.

So, south of the fire, obviously the restaurant had closed for repairs, even though it was minor.

Josh's dad had to stay home, and for Josh, he was too young to understand why the restaurant

was closed, this was kind of awesome.

Because now that he wasn't at the restaurant so much,

he actually be home for dinner.

So then he was out cooking dinner for us again.

The fire had damaged the restaurant and part of the storeroom

and Josh's dad had managed to salvage a bunch of tin cans of food.

Well, we are all this by nature. Wasn't a lot, but it's still better than waste.

But the catch was, they had no idea what was in the cans because after the fire none of them had

labels.

Because I thought I got burnt off or washed off by the firehouses. Every can was a new surprise. So yeah, randomly we'll be like,

let's try this tin, see what's in it. It's either going to be fruit salad, corn kernels, tin soup or saying hells. So you can't just pot luck as to what you sort of want.

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