Ancient Chinese Secret?

When Karen and I flew down to San Diego during Mark’s wedding, I was recovering from a cold and was coughing incessantly.  My mom, with her concerned demeanor, unveiled the following…

What is it?  Apparently it’s an ancient Chinese family secret herb passed down through the generations for fighting coughs, and my grandpa is the sole possessor of this profound knowledge.  Being a scientifically enlightened individual, I refused the intake of this dirt-like crap.

My dad’s friend, who flew in from Taiwan to attend my brother’s wedding, also had a cough and took some.  After a few days, my dad’s friend’s cough went away while mine lingered at my throat.  Curiously, I inquired about the source of its powers.  According to her, western medicine addresses symptoms while eastern medicine cures the source.  Inside us there is “Chi” at work, and this powder dispels the evil “Chi” and rectifies the root of what’s causing the cough.   o-kay…

Still, I couldn’t deny the empirical evidence of my dad’s friend’s miraculous recovery, so I took a teaspoon of this dirt and drank some water, a cruicial element of this formula. The powder tasted like mint mixed with ginger, and guess what, the cough went away!

Until an hour later, anyway.  Then I started coughing again.  I immediately went to my mom and my dad’s friend with the “aha! it doesn’t work!” but they explained that I needed to keep taking it for it to be effective.  So here we were.  I could keep taking the placebo and when my throat eventually heals, all the glory and honor goes to the powder, or I could stop taking it and be scolded by my mom for being stubborn every time I cough.  I was in a no-win situation.

So does the miracle powder really work?  I don’t know, because I decided to stop taking it.  I did bring a bottle of it with me to Seattle, but it being an ancient Chinese secret, I just couldn’t bring myself to use any of this precious… dirt.  🙂