I was driving to work this morning and was reading the writing on the road as I approached the intersection at Broadway and 16th in downtown Oakland. It read: TURN LEFT NO. Of course, if you read it beginning with the furthest word away, it would say “no left turn”. It made me chuckle because “turn left no” is so much more fun. It reminded me of the time I was at Baccali Rotisserie on Valley Boulevard with some friends.
I can’t remember the circumstances for our visit to Baccali, but I do remember that most of my party was ordering small dishes or dessert. April and I decided to be adventurous and ordered a banana split. That’s not something I recommend people order at Chinese cafes, by the way. About ten minutes later, our drinks and desserts began to arrive. The waiter went up to my friend James and said, “Hello, hello. Chocolate; no.”
We all sort of looked at each other in amazement before James realized what the man was trying to communicate. Eventually, I realized that he must have forgotten which one of us had ordered the banana split. When the waiter came back, I asked what other ice cream flavors they had and I believe we decided on two scoops of strawberry and one of vanilla for our banana split. Nonetheless, sometimes, I still repeat to myself “chocolate, no” for a good laugh.
I’m actually very impressed with the efficiency with which my waiter was able to communicate the restaurant’s lack of chocolate ice cream. I mean, it took a moment for the information to set it and make itself clear, but I got it eventually. Two words was all it took. Chocolate, no. Hello, hello! Chocolate, no.