An interesting restaurant disaster: 37.3.5 > 27??

[liquidity]

I was considering eating at a restaurant for breakfast, and cast to see what it would be like.

I got 37.3.5 the family > 27 nourishment
On the face of it — good. Nourishment for food, and a nourishing family experience sounded warm and hospitable.
(WB translations)
.3: When tempers flare up in the family, too great a severity brings remorse. Good fortune nonetheless. When women and children dally and laugh, it leads in the end to humiliation.
.5: As a king he approaches his family. Fear not. Good fortune.

When I went, I came in and ordered, but wasn’t even asked if I wanted coffee. Already service wasn’t great.

I ordered a dish and when it came out, the server didn’t warm me the dish would be 400 degrees — even the handles — and I burnt (not too badly) a finger. The waiter was defensive and didn’t have the good sense to apologize, just insisted that most customers understood the dish was hot.

The dish itself was the most flavorless, saltless mush. Appalling. I don’t complain usually, but this time I did. Returned it. Got something much simpler which was ok — a B at best.

Then they turned around and tried to give me a free extra savory baked good, and I said I’d rather have something sweet, so they gave me a cookie. Unsubtle — just sugar. Pretty bad for a cookie!

Overall — a terrible experience. What gives with the reading, then?? The only good thing I can think of is that I practiced being assertive and voicing my complaints, which sometimes I haven’t done in the past.

I see the scolding of .3, but fail to see how it led to good fortune. And there WAS something to fear — being burned — that seems not to go with .5.

Thoughts?

 

[moss elk]

I think Yi is best used for important things, though if you did this specifically to learn, it is understandable.

Line 3 really stood out, didn't it?
You had to give negative feedback:
that's the scolding part.
You got a free cookie, that the good fortune. The waiter got a learning experience for him to improve, that's good fortune.


Not sure about line 5,
did you eat alone,
was it the owner who gave you the cookie?

 

[Olga Super Star]

What an adventure!

I would have expected a good experience myself, or nonetheless an interesting one since the juxtaposition house+food.

I agree with Mr Elk that the king might be the owner who wanted to mend.

I got a row of 37.5 for houses a few months ago, but none of them became mine - yet.

I did feel I had the upper string of the stick though when dealing at the time. I was the king people were bowing to.

 

[Liselle]

Hi Liquidity,

Short answer: I think 37.5 is about the rude person/people at the restaurant.

Long answer: are you in WikiWing? If so, read what Hilary has put in there about line 5.

The general point is that a lot of line 5's translations, interpretations, and commentaries are likely incorrect. As Hilary puts it in a pithy sentence from WikiWing, it might be more accurate to interpret it as something like, "The king retains his autonomy. He can choose to be part of a relationship - or he can choose not to be."

"Fear not" might be "no worries, no cares" - I'm loosely quoting WikiWing again - the king doesn't care, sympathize, have compassion - and that can be good fortune for a king who's trying to act kingly. A king who spends his time worrying about everyone else isn't doing the king things he's supposed to be doing. Or something like that.

The lines you got show a harsh side to 37, I think, each from a different point of view. The mother/wife/woman in line 3 isn't supposed to play with her children, she's supposed to enforce discipline. The king (husband/father/etc.) in line 5 isn't supposed to care. 37 is about a well-run, order-first sort of home (/business), possibly, rather than an ooey-gooey-lovey one. It's an economic unit, where everyone has his/her role to fill.

Now - it's hard to see how being rude to customers is good for a business, but it was probably good for the waiter and his ego? (A kinder take on it is maybe he's in the wrong sort of job?) He certainly did great with the king-like mannerisms. (37.5 changing by itself changes to 22, Adornment).

If your question literally was, "What will it be like to eat there?" - well... "You'll find lordly waiters who don't care," says Yi.

(I wouldn't have understood this one, either. Well - if I'd remembered about WikiWing, I might have suspected something was up, but...)

I think Yi is best used for important things, though if you did this specifically to learn, it is understandable.

Good job acting lordly yourself.

 

[Liselle]

Oh - another idea might be, going along with what our officious friend Moss said, is that you needed to act kingly and not care about the restaurant's feelings.

From what you're saying, you did that, and still got a terrible meal, but better than if you hadn't complained.

Whether Yi was describing the restaurant, or giving advice, might depend on what your question was. Or just what you think rings true to you. I don't know.

 

[moss elk]

Oh - another idea might be, going along with what our officious friend Moss said, is that you needed to act kingly and not care about the restaurant's feelings.

*Dons Imperious fez*

Except for the fact that 37.5 is not about that.
In 37.5 the King specifically is nearing his family with love and affection. It is about caring for the people and feelings.

The Wings commentary says this.
Bradford includes the phrase: Sharing mutual affection.

So, this is where the king, however mighty,
nears and loves his family.

*removes Imperious fez*

*dons kick me sign*

*does a little dance while waiting for the blows*

xoxo

 

[Liselle]

Hilary (and Harmen, and LiSe) have, or contribute to, different explanations, though, as well as various experiences where no one is loving anyone else, including this one of Liquidity's. Here's another experience: http://ichingresources.co.uk/hexagrams/h37.html

Look at what Hilary says in WikiWing
https://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/friends/showwiki.php?title=Hexagram-37#Line-5

and also this thread in Reading Circle, which led to it -
https://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/friends/showthread.php?14812-37-5

There are links in there to Harmen's site, and LiSe's.


Bradford's is interesting. "Do not be concerned about luck." I'm trying to read his commentary parable with that sentence in mind, and am having trouble connecting the two - do you have ideas?

Am also trying to see how "luck" fits in to what Liquidity told us, and again am drawing a blank - ?


Hm, just re-read that I Ching Resources page - maybe Hilary ties it together a bit with, "I had noticed how this line can reflect a particular attitude: someone who needs to be absolutely in charge in order to be able to show affection and care."

Could it (back to Bradford's) mean a king shouldn't rely on luck to assure his autonomy....could "do not be concerned about luck" be a way of saying don't rely on it? Iow, is it more a warning that luck shouldn't even enter a king's head as a possible source of help?

Obviously that's a question; I don't know. Am also wondering if I have it backwards.

This is interesting. How would you apply Brad's "Do not be concerned about luck" to Liquidity's example?

 

[Olga Super Star]

This is interesting. How would you apply Brad's "Do not be concerned about luck" to Liquidity's example?

Could it be he was just unlucky to meet that waiter?

Waiters vary according to the day or time of the day usually.

Sometimes even the cook.
When the cook falls ill or goes on holidays, the second chef or sometimes the owner duh steps in with pans and forks.

So you can never say if a place is bad unless you’ve tried it more than once.

But since Yi responds on the moment, and the question was not [what is usually like eating here?] I guess my idea shall be discarded.

Yet I wanted to leave it.

It was the owner who gave you the biscuit?

 

[Liselle]

We don't know exactly, precisely what the question was. I did take it to mean "this morning," though.

I'm not discarding your idea, Olga; it's a good point. Bradford mentions luck in 37.5, and Liquidity got 37.5 about something where timing and luck may indeed play a part.

Liquidity, how would you feel about eating there two or three more times, randomly, for science?

 

[Olga Super Star]

Liquidity, how would you feel about eating there two or three more times, randomly, for science?

Come on, Liquidity. It’s for a good cause

Maybe you should stick more to your name and order soup.

 

[liquidity]

I think Yi is best used for important things, though if you did this specifically to learn, it is understandable.

Line 3 really stood out, didn't it?
You had to give negative feedback:
that's the scolding part.
You got a free cookie, that the good fortune. The waiter got a learning experience for him to improve, that's good fortune.


Not sure about line 5,
did you eat alone,
was it the owner who gave you the cookie?

It wasn't, though I later then emailed the owner with a complaint about all this, and she emailed back and apologized and acknowledged I was correct on all these issues, and that if I wanted to give them another chance i should email them and let them know... hrm.

 

[liquidity]

If your question literally was, "What will it be like to eat there?" - well... "You'll find lordly waiters who don't care," says Yi.

 

[liquidity]

It was the owner who gave you the biscuit?

No, it was the server and another server who were on duty.

 

[liquidity]

Liquidity, how would you feel about eating there two or three more times, randomly, for science?

An update that I mentioned a post or two above this is that I emailed the owner with a complaint and she apologized and invited me back to try again, emailing her in advance... I don't know if I'm going to take her up on it.

 

[Liselle]

Good for you for scolding, scolding! (I don't know whether I'd go back, either.)

 

[Olga Super Star]

If you go back you might have a great discount on the dinner

Remember to try with soup