This is specifically to address the superstition of bad luck attributed to a place where people have died. This is not akin to the western idea of graveyards being solemn places, because people don't die there; they go there to be buried. I'm talking about the whole murder-house theme; where someone will refuse to visit a place because a death occurred on the premisis.
I'm going to cite a very specific example as my point: Sam Won Garden. There is, near my home, a restaurant formerly called "Sam Won Garden." It was cheesy from the outside, an obviously repainted fish-themed restaurant complete with lighthouse. But inside- it was truly delicious. Great cooks, cuisine from Korea, China and Japan. A sushi bar, and separate Japanese-style dining rooms. Kimchee of many varieties. Delicious food, and frequented by many of the Asian community in San Antonio, whether living there or passing through.
Then the owner and his son were murdered on the premisis, and the wife kidnapped and raped.
When the news broke, I was saddened both for the situation and the loss of a restaurant. When I found out they'd reopened, I immediately went and showed my support by eating there every weekday. But the crowd was drastically thinned.
This, an Asian collegue explained to me later, was not because of the cuisine or the atmosphere or the ownership, but because it was now "bad luck."
The final blow to a restaurant that had served its customers well was to die ignobly from superstition.
Why? Is it a fear of disease, catching the bad luck that killed the owner and his son? Is it a fear of ghosts, the unsettled spirits of those killed in a violent manner? Is it superstition akin to thirteenth floors and ladders?
Please someone help explain to me why a restaurant was murdered by its patrons.
I'm going to cite a very specific example as my point: Sam Won Garden. There is, near my home, a restaurant formerly called "Sam Won Garden." It was cheesy from the outside, an obviously repainted fish-themed restaurant complete with lighthouse. But inside- it was truly delicious. Great cooks, cuisine from Korea, China and Japan. A sushi bar, and separate Japanese-style dining rooms. Kimchee of many varieties. Delicious food, and frequented by many of the Asian community in San Antonio, whether living there or passing through.
Then the owner and his son were murdered on the premisis, and the wife kidnapped and raped.
When the news broke, I was saddened both for the situation and the loss of a restaurant. When I found out they'd reopened, I immediately went and showed my support by eating there every weekday. But the crowd was drastically thinned.
This, an Asian collegue explained to me later, was not because of the cuisine or the atmosphere or the ownership, but because it was now "bad luck."
The final blow to a restaurant that had served its customers well was to die ignobly from superstition.
Why? Is it a fear of disease, catching the bad luck that killed the owner and his son? Is it a fear of ghosts, the unsettled spirits of those killed in a violent manner? Is it superstition akin to thirteenth floors and ladders?
Please someone help explain to me why a restaurant was murdered by its patrons.
