Parents are all the same...

So my Chinese friends, Candance and her boyfriend, Luke, had me over for a a goodbye dinner a few weeks ago. As we ate chicken feet, bamboo shoots and river snail, the conversation turned to wasting food. I related to them that as children, many Americans are told to eat all of their food because, "There are starving children in China who would like to eat that food that you are about to throw away." My friends started to laugh. I asked them what was funny. Luke told me, "In China, most children are told that they have to finish their food because there are starving children in AMERICA that could eat the food." I was dumbfounded by this revelation - but Candance verified that she was also told the same thing by her parents. So I guess this proves one things conclusively - parents in any culture will say whatever it takes to get their kids to clean their plates!