Business
The contextual background of the story is that the narrator's father has bought a pancake house that has allowed the family to take a step up the economic ladder. "My mother elaborated, explaining that businesses took bringing up, like children. They could take years to get going, she said, years." This elaboration is in response to the narrator's father asserting that the key to success in American business is thinking ahead. The simile suggests that an independently owned business is like another child in the family going through the same type of growing pains as a real child.
Irony
The father unwittingly makes an ironic comparison using a simile referencing a famous American movie. “Like that Godfather in the movie." The comparison being made here is Mr. Chang demonstrating more of a socialist approach to spreading the wealth among needy friends and employees. The irony of this comparison is that The Godfather is a film notorious for drawing parallels between organized crime and capitalist economics.
Employees
As he becomes more successful, however, the socialist approach to sharing the wealth gives way to toxic capitalism. He pushes past the boundaries of acceptable demands on his workers until they eventually quit. “Robots, they are. They want to be robots.” Mr. Chang asserts this metaphorical misunderstanding when one employee after another leaves because they just want to do their restaurant job without being called upon to do home repairs for their employer.
Princesses
A country club wife presses the family to attend a bon voyage party for a complete stranger of questionable character. “A pair of little princesses, you are!" she says to the young sisters. This is another example of irony in the use of metaphor. Once the party begins, the "princess" narrator is pressed into duty equitable with servants rather than guests. The metaphorical promotion to royalty is clearly undone by the seemingly innocent demonstration of racism by the hostess.
The Drunk
The guest of honor turns out to be a two-time loser who compounds being a rude drunk by also being a xenophobic racist. Holding an empty wind bottle, his first words directed to Mr. Chang almost immediately devolve into a demonstration of both failures of character. "You see that it refuses to do my bidding. 1 bid it open sesame, please, and it does nothing." The metaphorical reference here reveals the confusion of his inebriated state of mind. Apparently mistaking Asian features for Middle Eastern, the guest of honor wants Mr. Chang to work some sort of genie magic to refill his empty bottle.
