We went to about as an authentic Mexican Restaurant that there is last night. Most of the combination dinners are numbered, so you order by the number to avoid confusion between the Mexican waiter/waitress and you.
Anna and I both agreed we wanted number 21 and we also wanted to tell them we preferred soft tacos.
The waiter came to take our order. Anna ordered number 21 and said her husband wanted number 21 too, and we both wanted soft shell tacos.
The waiter said something to make us think he interpreted what she said was that she wanted number 21, and I wanted two number 21’s, and in addition we wanted soft shell tacos. I think the word “too” threw him off… and she soft tacos didn’t help either.
No, no, we both said – she wants number 21, and I want number 21. And make them soft shell tacos.
He somehow dug a deeper hole and got it wrong again when he repeated it back. Then I did a visual demonstration – pointing to her and pointing to me, and said with soft tacos.
He nodded his head and walked way with our order. I was interested to see what kind of surprise was in for us. Delightfully, the ordered came as we requested.
2 comments:
Well, you were lucky! Whenever we go to a Mexican or Chinese restaurant, I always order, because if mr. kenju does it - somehow they misinterpret every time!
Judy,
Welocme back!
I know how that is, to have your order food order misinterpreted. But with me it is not with Chinese or Mexican waiters - it is with squawk boxes at fast foods. Not long ago I ordered a grilled chicken salad at the McDonald's drive-through window and the person on the other end said they did not sell chicken salad and I told her I was looking at a picture of it by the speaker. After some talking we found out she thought I was talking about chicken salad - like tuna salad - you know, ground up chunks of chicken.
Then another time I ordered a grilled chicken salad and I got a grilled chicken sandwich.
It is not 25% or even as high as 50% error rate when I go through a fast food window service - it is 100%.
Still oh, welcome back to the USA.
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