http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6175910/Of-habits-subversive-or-capable.html

Their loneliness seems to have increased many Chinese-origin men's sensitivity to the plight of others who were also separated from supportive friends and kin. No European-origin immigrant remembered "habits subversive," and a number experienced compassionate help. Bill Johnstone, a miner from England, and James Walker, a Scottish harvest worker, when short of money, received meals or pay for odd jobs at a "Chinaman's" restaurant. Self-critically, some re-examined their racial prejudices. In the 1920s, English war brides who felt shunned by Canadian women found support where few would have looked. Peggy Holmes, self-assured and independent in England but engulfed by hostility in her prairie neighbourhood, remembered: "My first friend was the Chinese cook, Wong. When I felt hopelessly down in the dumps, he would comfort me, saying, 'Don't worry, missie. I fix you nice Chinese food. Me homesick, too!'" To Kathleen Strange, the Chinese owner of a restaurant became a friend--after, as she admitted, she overcame her snobbishness. Stereotyped "Chinks" became sensitive friends. (19) Both dichotomous perceptions and cultural practices on different continents were bridged by shared post-migration experiences.