I was reminded of this story by another thread and didnt' want to hijack. This is a story my father has told many times.
I should point out that this happened long before I was born, so odds are the details of the story have become muddled over time.
My paternal grandfather (who I never met; he died ten years before I was born) was full-blooded Chinese, born in China, and emigrated to the US. He had a number of jobs over the years and ended up as a technical writer at Raytheon, but before that, he managed a Chinese restaurant in the Boston area for a while (before it went under).
Then, as now, it was typical that most of the staff at a Chinese restaurant was Chinese, and they often spoke Chinese amongst themselves. However, this hardly meant they didn't understand English. My grandfather in particular was fluent in English (as evidenced by the fact that he later had a job as a writer).
One day, a group of college students came in for dinner. Upon hearing the staff chatting away in Chinese, they somehow managed to leap to the conclusion that none of the employees understood English. They therefore felt safe in openly and loudly discussing their plans to dine & dash.
Unfortunately for them, the staff DID understand English, but these idiots didn't know a lick of Chinese, so they didn't know that the waitstaff had reported everything they heard to my grandfather, and that he'd already hatched a plan to deal with them.
After they finished eating, they all got up and headed for the door, thinking they were home free. So imagine their surprise when they discovered my grandfather standing in the doorway, holding a meat cleaver.
"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?"
I would imagine that the problem for these idiots at this point was bladder control, but they DID pay for their food that day.
I should point out that this happened long before I was born, so odds are the details of the story have become muddled over time.
My paternal grandfather (who I never met; he died ten years before I was born) was full-blooded Chinese, born in China, and emigrated to the US. He had a number of jobs over the years and ended up as a technical writer at Raytheon, but before that, he managed a Chinese restaurant in the Boston area for a while (before it went under).
Then, as now, it was typical that most of the staff at a Chinese restaurant was Chinese, and they often spoke Chinese amongst themselves. However, this hardly meant they didn't understand English. My grandfather in particular was fluent in English (as evidenced by the fact that he later had a job as a writer).
One day, a group of college students came in for dinner. Upon hearing the staff chatting away in Chinese, they somehow managed to leap to the conclusion that none of the employees understood English. They therefore felt safe in openly and loudly discussing their plans to dine & dash.
Unfortunately for them, the staff DID understand English, but these idiots didn't know a lick of Chinese, so they didn't know that the waitstaff had reported everything they heard to my grandfather, and that he'd already hatched a plan to deal with them.
After they finished eating, they all got up and headed for the door, thinking they were home free. So imagine their surprise when they discovered my grandfather standing in the doorway, holding a meat cleaver.
"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?"
I would imagine that the problem for these idiots at this point was bladder control, but they DID pay for their food that day.
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