Pot stickers

Mobile phone rings. It's my cute friend E from Kansas and she has a quick money-making opportunity for me:

E: "Hey! There's a marketing survey being done for pot stickers. Wanna do it? They pay $40 and it'll take 30 minutes."
ME: "Sure, sounds great. What's a pot sticker?"
E: "A food! You know those asian dumpling-type things? All you have to do is eat a few and fill in a questionnaire about them."
ME: "Cool - I will be there!"

So, E and I trot off to an asian restaurant in Brentwood at the appointed hour of the morning and sign up to be surveyed. I give a fake address and the fun begins!

We are seated around large tables with a gaggle of about 30 other giggling girls. There are ten-page questionnaires lying face down at each table setting and a 'chef' with a large chef's hat and a microphone (probably an actor!) working the floor. He spends the first five minutes doing nothing other than tell us NOT to turn the questionnaires over YET. Ladies, PLEASE! No peeking!

Eventually, the restaurant staff deliver the first batch of pot stickers and the ladies tuck in. The 'chef' comments and gives orders. After swallowing the last morsel of the first lot, we are told to turn over the questionnaires and fill in the first six questions about the product. Ladies, only the first SIX questions, PLEASE.

Then, with great fuss, we are told to turn the forms face down again and sample the next round and so it goes on and on. The questions deal with value for money, packaging attractiveness, taste and texture, preparation time etc. We get spoken to as if we are totally retarded, but hey - they're paying us $40 each to eat a few noodle/dumpling things and make multiple choice crosses on a form? Who's retarded?

Oh - and why, oh why, would you call a foodstuff by such an ugly name? Frankly, I wouldn't buy anything that promises to stick to the bottom of my pot. Ugh - what an idea.

(photo: www.ming.com)