Midnight snack, as normal as its name may suggest, is no more than an additional, namely unnecessary, meal that tails every usual day. When hungry, people mechanically turn to it, mostly without the least appreciation for this pay-and-get enjoyment. While full or wiped out after work, people would just forget about it the way a Don Juan deserts his mistress. Midnight snack, in the eyes of most people, is thus either taken for granted or left out in the cold. However, midnight snack, espeically from flies-milling food stand, means a great deal to me. It awaits me at the end of every lengthy day like a final, if not sole, reward. No matter how insipid every routine day may come along, it adds considerable spices to each of them; it fills the emptiness of my energy-drained brain, refreshes the languor of my dragged mind, and above all calls back my lost soul. By chewing it (no matter in what form) between my jaws, I am able to sense the meaning, if not raison detre, of my dedicated efforts to every single day; this understanding is a pure contentment that makes sense of those drops of tears, those heavings of sighs. More than a material reward, midnight snack also serves as a mental solace. In a snack store or at a ready-to-flee food stand, midnight snack brings together hungry stomachs in a harmonious, pleasant manner; strangers gather together for the invariably same purpose: stifle the hunger. Accompanied by television, doubtlessly an idiot box that repeats the same melodrama infinitely, strangers literally form a family under the name of midnight snack. In this sense, midnight snack does provide denizens of this indifferent society with an opportunity for "emigration." So, next time when you are having midnight snack, remember to taste the flavor behind flavors. -- Anything worth doing is worth doing well. --

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