Chapter 3 - Comparison In The City (2)

It's another beautiful morning in Thompson's uncle's house. He was awake. He tidies up his room and went to the bathroom to take his bath. His uncle came to check on him and found that he was taken his bath. His uncle told him to join them in the dining room when he was done.

Thompson composed himself and joined the family. They had their prayers and started eating. Rice and chicken sauce were served with handmade juice. Thompson was smiling and this got his uncle and his uncle's wife to notice him. The uncle's wife asked why he was smiling. He replied, "I recall the kind of food we eat by this time of the day in the village. We eat heavy food most time in the morning while rice seems to be so special in every home. People cooked rice mostly on Sundays and for parties."

They all burst into laughter while the last born of the family reminds them that is prohibited to talk when eating. They all maintained silent order till they finished their food. Thompson continues with his story. "Do you know that we picked fruits from the farm early in the morning?" His uncle attests to that as he had once lived in the village. Thompson continued, "the fruits are for the family consumption and sale within the village". It's all fun he said. His uncle's wife was interested in why rice seemed to be special.

Thompson said, " rice is like gold as it was cooked on the rare occasion. Our parents believe that solid food enables us to work and makes us strong." We rarely cooked rice at home he concluded. Thompson was grateful to his uncle and his wife for being nice to him. Since it was the weekend, the family gathered in the city room to watch movies. It is all a big thing for Thompson as his father doesn't allow them to watch different channels aside from news stations.

Thompson sighed again and the whole house has to ask if he was fine. He replied that he was fine and that everything seems to be a dream for him. The housekeeper and his uncle's wife prepared to go to the mall to get some snacks and ice cream as the children asked for it. They asked if Thompson will join them but he said some other time as he was enjoying the movie. He didn't stop looking at the size of the Tv. He asked his uncle if the Tv was the biggest in the world. The children laughed at most of his questions. His uncle replied that the Tv comes in different inches and that the one they're using was the last size for now.

He asked if the films are both in the form of a disc or cassette. This got the children laughing again but their father cautioned them not to do that as Thompson is learning faster by asking. His uncle told him that the films are automated and that subscription is made to sustain viewing every month. That surprised him as he looked at the decoder. He asked if the box(decoder) consist of the movies and his brother answered yes.