Why do negative memories stay with us longer than positive ones? I was recently walking through Chinatown, and remembered being there with my parents when I was a child. I'm sure there were many nice things that happened on that trip, and to be fair, I do recall a few. But I also flashed back to buying a fan. It was one of those cheapo ones that can be folded and unfolded, with a gold tassel hanging from the handle and some Asian scene painted on the span. We walked out into the street, and I immediately set to zipping it open like a Shanghai princess. It was harder to do than I thought, so I forced it a little, and the fan broke. (As it turns out, I was "opening" it the opposite way I was supposed to.) Well, my dad freaked and yelled at me, and I felt really dumb... More >>>