Sad to hear about the family who run WangJia today on ABC7. Burglarized. Estimated $150,000 in cash and belongings stolen.
As good a reason as ever to try them finally. I hope things swing up swiftly for them. Shanghainese crew unite 
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@J_L and I were recalling a great meal there and how welcoming Kevin was.
Def planning a return visit to support them.
Maybe next FTC buyout should be there @Foodiefromla ?
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Very game for that!
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I’d be in for a wangjia buyout
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What would someone have in their house that would be worth that much? He took his college tuition out of the bank to pay it in cash? so I guess it’s not that they don’t use banks.
Who burgles my house burgles trash.
I think its pretty obvious that they were trying to avoid the eyes of the government with that much cash on hand but somebody else had their eyes on it. Why else would you keep that much cash on hand.
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Why withdraw college tuition from a bank if you had a pile of cash already?
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There are a few recent-ish LA rap songs - both YG and Drakeo come to mind - that pretty actively play on stereotypes, really are straight up racist, and describe a similar scenario.
Who knows, I dont know their situation but I’ve now known at least two Chinese families close to me that feel like they need to keep cash on hand for emergencies or just because they dont want to trust a bank and they were robbed in their homes. One of them even had a heavy duty safe which they used a power tool cut a hole into.
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article says things, not cash.
Kevin estimates the men took $150,000 worth of things.
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My Chinese father-in-law advised us not to keep money in banks because of the impending war and apocalyptic conditions. My American grandmother keeps bags of money around the house for whatever reason. People are afraid of banks.
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I can honestly say there is nothing in my apartment worth over $500. I don’t know if that’s pathetic or freeing.
I have maybe 1200 in cash in case of a societal breakdown and I need to pay top dollar for toilet paper.
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I think it’s silly but lots of my relatives squirrel cash and stuff at home.
#SuddenDiasporaMindset
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He told me and @J_L that he has quite an extensive coin collection
Is there recent family or cultural experience with bank failure or bank runs?
Very commonly ingrained in the Asian psyche is the concept of tao nan ( 逃難 ), which is the need to prepare for immediate departure from a country being engulfed in calamity (war, famine, natural disaster, etc.). This is associated with the need to have on hand enough cash/gold/jewels ready as liquid resources to (1) potentially bribe one’s way out, (2) pay for transport and other costs associated with said flight, and also (3) enough resources to start all over again in a new place…
That, and some people just don’t trust banks lol.
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Appreciate the info! Very interesting.
