Decorative

"Does fishball really work?" The wife is certainly not amused with the idea. However, she decides not to dwell on this topic but, rather, switch to an, in her opinion, more important one, "Sweat-heart, there are many kinds of fish."

"Yes...?"

"You know, on one hand, we have horsehead (馬頭) and pompano (黃立鯧), which have few thorns except the backbone. On the other, there are mud carp (鯪魚) and shad (鰣魚), which are only meant for experienced gourmets. Do we need to have separate credentials for eating each and every type of fish?"

"Don't be silly, my dear. There is going to be one and only one kind of credential for eating fish within these four walls. If our princess - or any one who is going to join our family - gets the permission to eat fish, she could try any species that she likes."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring," the wife said slowly, "Mary may be fully capable of dissecting pompano by her teeth, but she will easily get into trouble with mud carp. The risk is still there. If anything, the risk is increased because, by the system of credential, we create a false sense of security by implying that if one could eat horsehead, or simply fishball as you suggest, he could safely try some shad."

"That may be true," the husband was forced to agree, "But, come on. We don't want to make things complicated and have micro-management."

"Alas, and therefore you end up with some kind of decorative management!"