Ordering Food in Restaurant / 点菜

How to order food in restaurant is quite telling sometimes. In the US, even in Chinese restaurants, when dishes are tend to be shared, all the dinners have a menu and in general will contribute an idea to the table, while in China, it was less democratic. Over there, usually one menu is given to a table, even if there more a full dozen dinners. Usually one or two people put them heads together and decide the entire menu for the table. This sometimes creates some displeasure.

Recently, I heard a story happened to a distant relative of mine. He is in his eighties and doesn't dine out often, because he can only eat very soft food now. A few weeks ago, he invited his children and grandchildren to dine in a restaurant and he picked up the check. However, whoever studies the menu and placed the order didn't consult with him and didn't order any dish he could chew on. Considering he was to pay for the dishes and there was nothing for him to eat, he was furious.

It can be easily fixed perhaps, but that is not how Chinese people behave. They would rather see things go wrong and fret and complain about it then try to prevent it.

Perhaps, they should learn to practice democracy from dining table first.

如何在餐館點菜有时很说明问题。在美國，即使是在菜肴往往共享得中餐館，所有食客都会有一份菜單，和他人一起分享点菜的主意；而在中国大陸，点菜就不那麼民主。在那裡，通常一张桌一個菜單，即使有一整打人吃饭。往往一個人或兩個人決定整個菜單。這有時會造成一些不欢。

最近，我聽到一個發生在我的一個遠房親戚的故事。他年過八旬，只能吃很軟的食物了，所以极少在餐馆吃飯。幾個星期前，他邀請他的子女和孫輩在餐館吃飯，由他付账。然而，点菜的人沒有與他商量，沒有点任何他可以嚼得动的菜。考慮到是他付账，却沒有吃到什麼，他非常生氣。

这个问题其实可以很容易地解决，但這不是中國人行事方法。他們寧願等事情變壞，然后抱怨，也不設法阻止不快发生。

也許，他們應該從餐桌上开始學習如何實行民主。


Birds and Men / 鳥與人 / Vögel und Menschen by Matthew Felix Sun