Odd interaction

I went to my regular Chinese restaurant for lunch today. I was eating my soup when they seated another woman at the far side of the round table I was at. She recognized me and remembered a previous conversation: she asked "what's that you always order?" I told her about the duck, which I had in fact ordered for that meal, and she said it wasn't that, it was noodles. I did my best to get the name across, but after a minute's confusion (in the noisy restaurant) she said "You order forme." Then the waiter came over and this woman said "She'll order for me" and pointed. So I said "She'll have the rice cake with shrimp." She seemed a little startled when it actually arrived, but picked up a noodle with her chopsticks and proceeded to enjoy herself, as far as I could tell.

I didn't realize I had that much of an aura of competence. I am competent at a variety of things, but knowing what a stranger wants to eat isn't one of them.

Odd interaction

I went to my regular Chinese restaurant for lunch today. I was eating my soup when they seated another woman at the far side of the round table I was at. She recognized me and remembered a previous conversation: she asked "what's that you always order?" I told her about the duck, which I had in fact ordered for that meal, and she said it wasn't that, it was noodles. I did my best to get the name across, but after a minute's confusion (in the noisy restaurant) she said "You order forme." Then the waiter came over and this woman said "She'll order for me" and pointed. So I said "She'll have the rice cake with shrimp." She seemed a little startled when it actually arrived, but picked up a noodle with her chopsticks and proceeded to enjoy herself, as far as I could tell.

I didn't realize I had that much of an aura of competence. I am competent at a variety of things, but knowing what a stranger wants to eat isn't one of them.