Goomba wrote on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:09:15 -0500:

>> About the only thing that gets me in Chinese and Japanese
>> restaurants is the common refusal to serve coffee. I like
>> coffee after most meals; my wife preferred tea. I can
>> remember a snooty "French" restaurant in London that said
>> "Oh, we don't serve tea". We never returned or tipped.
>>

Nonsense, it was the waiter who said it it and that's how opinions get
passed on!

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

James Silverton wrote:


> Based on Chinese supermarkets that I know, ethnic purity is not allowed
> to stand in the way of profit. If Philippinos or Japanese come, their
> needs will be met.

The oriental grocery stores around here sell anything Asian, including
things that Asians in other parts of the world would want. I can get
Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Caribbean and and more.

On 2009-01-22, Dan Abel > wrote:

> Perhaps they just didn't realize you needed a fork, or a shovel, or

Are you kidding!? The normal eating utensils in the United States is a fork
and spoon and a knife. If a restaurant doing business in the USA doesn't
realize it, they gotta be dumber than spit. I'd say most of them are not.
I have never ever had to ask for silverware in a Chinese restaurant.

nb

On 2009-01-22, Goomba > wrote:

> I agree with everything you said. It shows respect for the culture....

It's bad enough when people say, "You have to show me respect". Now I gotta
show respect for a culture? Horsecrap! I'm supposed to show respect for
Muslim terrorist cuz of their culture? Besides, just how is a culture
supposed to know when I'm showing it respect. What nonsense.

nb

notbob wrote:
> On 2009-01-22, Goomba > wrote:
>
>> I agree with everything you said. It shows respect for the culture....
>
> It's bad enough when people say, "You have to show me respect". Now I gotta
> show respect for a culture? Horsecrap! I'm supposed to show respect for
> Muslim terrorist cuz of their culture? Besides, just how is a culture
> supposed to know when I'm showing it respect. What nonsense.
>
> nb

Showing respect for a Muslim traditions or culture has nothing to do
with showing respect to a terrorist.
And people *rarely* respect anyone who demands that you show them respect.

On 2009-01-23, Goomba > wrote:
>
> Showing respect for a Muslim traditions or culture has nothing to do
> with showing respect to a terrorist.

Neither does eating Chinese food with a fork.

nb

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:23:48 GMT, James Silverton wrote:

> Goomba wrote on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:41:28 -0500:
>
>> Lass Chance_2 wrote:
>>> I enhoy using chopsticks. It makes me eat more slowly, for
>>> one thing. Plus...it's kind of an adventure. Insisting upon eating
>>> ethnic food other than the way the
>>> Culture eats it...is a little insulting, isnt it?
>>>
>>> Asking for a fork in an Ethiopian restaurant...or insisting
>>> upon flatware in a Chinese restaurant....seems to imply,
>>> "YOUR way isnt good enough for ME."
>
> Come off it! Don't take it so seriously and don't be so PC. I'll admit
> that being so conservative and stuck in a rut as not to try new things
> and new ways is probably an early warning of senility.
>
> About the only thing that gets me in Chinese and Japanese restaurants is
> the common refusal to serve coffee. I like coffee after most meals; my
> wife preferred tea. I can remember a snooty "French" restaurant in
> London that said "Oh, we don't serve tea". We never returned or tipped.

my mother's complaint about chinese places wasn't that they didn't serve
coffee, but that the coffee they served was lousy.

your pal,
blake

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:45:00 GMT, James Silverton wrote:

> Dave wrote on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:46:34 -0500:
>
>> Goomba wrote:
>>> Lass Chance_2 wrote:
>>>> I enhoy using chopsticks. It makes me eat more slowly, for one
>>>> thing. Plus...it's kind of an adventure. Insisting upon eating
>>>> ethnic food other than the way the Culture
>>>> eats it...is a little insulting, isnt it?
>>>>
>>>> Asking for a fork in an Ethiopian restaurant...or insisting upon
>>>> flatware in a Chinese restaurant....seems to imply,
>>>> "YOUR way isnt good enough for ME."
>>>
>>> I agree with everything you said. It shows respect for the
>>> culture of the food you're enjoying. I wonder who Jill thinks
>>> people are showing off to at those hole in the wall eateries when
>>> they're using the chopsticks?
>
>> Oh pshaw. It has more to do with a person's comfort level, and
>> I thought that we were talking about Chinese restaurants over here.
>> Heaven forbid that paying customers have to worry about insulting a
>> culture that the proprietors left for greater
>> opportunity. Call me old fashioned, but I expect new arrivals to adapt
>> to our ways, not us to all of them. It may be
>> different if we go over there and demand things the way we
>> are used to them at home.
>
> Based on Chinese supermarkets that I know, ethnic purity is not allowed
> to stand in the way of profit. If Philippinos or Japanese come, their
> needs will be met.

in some chinese places i've been to, you would have to ask for the
chopsticks, not the fork. but in either case, it's never a big deal. the
waiters have other things to think about than that you're some kind of
rube.

your pal,
blake

On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:11:52 GMT, notbob wrote:

> On 2009-01-22, Goomba > wrote:
>
>> I agree with everything you said. It shows respect for the culture....
>
> It's bad enough when people say, "You have to show me respect". Now I gotta
> show respect for a culture? Horsecrap! I'm supposed to show respect for
> Muslim terrorist cuz of their culture? Besides, just how is a culture
> supposed to know when I'm showing it respect. What nonsense.
>
> nb

whiteness uber alles!

blake

On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:02:36 GMT, notbob wrote:

> On 2009-01-23, Goomba > wrote:
>>
>> Showing respect for a Muslim traditions or culture has nothing to do
>> with showing respect to a terrorist.
>
> Neither does eating Chinese food with a fork.
>
> nb

why not just eat it with your fingers? then *everybody* will think you're
a geek.

blake

ChattyCathy wrote:
> notbob wrote:
>
>> On 2009-01-22, ChattyCathy > wrote:
>>
>>> Cultural beliefs run deep, nb.
>> Yes, and if I decide to eat in a Chinese restaurant serving Americans
>> in the US, it's damn rude to expect me to use chopsticks.
>>
>> nb
>
> Thing is, if I go to a Chinese restaurant I expect to be offered
> chopsticks to eat my food. It's all part of the whole dining
> experience, IMO.

When I lived in California and ate at Chinese restaurants
(and other Asian restaurants) you automatically got chopsticks.
Although I think they also usually gave you silverware. But
when I moved back to Pittsburgh I found that almost none of
the Chinese restaurants give you chopsticks. (Maybe they think
the typical Pittsburgher is too backward to use chopsticks. ;-))
Anyway, that's why I carry my own chopsticks with me.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?