Alternative Mee Siam

Al and I were going out for lunch together the other day...


Al: Let's have mee siam with hum.

angry doc: There's no mee siam with hum.

Al: Sure there is! There's laksa with hum, so there must be mee siam with hum.

angry doc: OK, there may be; but I haven't seen any mee siam with hum before.

Al: You're just too close-minded to accept the possibility of mee siam with hum.

angry doc: No, I'm not - I'm perfectly willing to accept that mee siam with hum can exist. I'm just saying I haven't seen it before. Do you know where they sell mee siam with hum?

Al: I can't recall off-hand; read about it in a food guide before. But many people have had mee siam with hum before, and they all said it tastes great. Are you saying what all these people say mean nothing?

angry doc: Many people used to say the Earth was flat too; I'm just saying I haven't seen any proof that mee siam with hum exists yet.

Al: Can you prove that mee siam with hum doesn't exist?

angry doc: No.

Al: So you admit mee siam with hum exists!

angry doc: No, I admitted I can't prove that mee siam with hum does not exist. Can *you* prove that mee siam with hum exists?

Al: Sure. How would you like me to prove it?

angry doc: Well, you might take me to a place which sells mee siam with hum, so I can taste it for myself.

Al: Can't do that. You see, mee siam with hum cannot be proven to you through your senses of sight and taste – they cannot adequately measure and explain mee siam with hum.

angry doc: Why not? It's food, right?

Al: That's just the nature of mee siam with hum. You must have faith in mee siam with hum to know its existence.

angry doc: Well I don't.

Al: Now that's just double standards. You have faith in laksa with hum, yet you are not willing to have faith in mee siam with hum. Why do you insist on stopping other people from having mee siam with hum?

angry doc: I don't have *faith* in laksa with hum – I know that laksa with hum exists because I have seen, smelled, and tasted laksa with hum. And I'm not trying to stop people from eating mee siam with hum – I just won't recommend mee siam with hum to other people until I have tasted it myself and found it to be good.

Al: Don't you know that great and important people eat mee siam with hum?

angry doc: Great and important people also eat laksa with hum.

Al: You are impossible to reason with. In fact, I don't know why I bother – you are not a chef, so you obviously don't know anything about mee siam with hum.

angry doc: Are you a chef?

Al: No, but that's not the point. You think I'm crazy, don't you?

angry doc: No, I just don't think your arguments stand up to examination. And you still haven't told me where we can find mee siam with hum.

Al: Well, they used to say Galileo was crazy.

angry doc: Yes. They also used to say Rasputin was crazy – and I think they were right.

Al: So what do you want for lunch?

angry doc: Laksa with hum.

Al: You're just so indoctrinated by the big laksa-with-hum businesses that you can't accept that mee siam with hum might be just as good, or even better.

angry doc: Hey, since we're already in Katong...