The most embarrassing moment happened last week when I went to a restaurant with my friend. I am a reserved person and I try to formalize my behavior when I go out. My friend was babbling all the way and I asked her to keep quiet as we opened the door to the restaurant.
It was a lively, bustling Chinese restaurant and was really a Grand central station.
We looked around for empty seats and found a space amidst many tables. When we were about to sit, a young man occupied one chair. It was a circular table and five people could be seated around it. I never wanted to sit there, as I never liked to be engrossed. I loved to be in a corner seat, where I could enjoy my food without being noticed by anyone. But we had no other choice, as we were tired and hungry, from the whole day wandering in the city.
Just as we seated ourselves, a waiter came to us with a menu card. We had no idea about Chinese cuisine but pretended to be going through the menu. I peeked at the green-eyed, slender man in blue jeans and black long sleeve shirt, sitting opposite to us. He was flicking through the menu card. Finally, I randomly selected Chow mein from the list. She ordered hotpot, for which she told the waiter, ‘Hotspot’ and the green-eyed man lifted his eyes and darted at us. I felt uncomfortable as I never wanted to be noticed and rolled my eyes at her.
About a quarter-hour later, I saw the waiter coming out from the back of the house carrying two bowls in a tray. He kept the tray at the center of the table. When he was about to serve I asked him for a glass of water and he left to take the water jug. Swiftly serving the food from the bowls, we started eating. When I peeped, I saw him sniggering. He was trying hard to suppress his laughter. I looked at my friend. She was devouring as she had never seen food before. I chided her to eat slowly.
It was only when the man told me that I was eating the food he ordered, I understood what he was laughing for. The man had ordered Lo mein, which in appearance is almost similar to Chow mein, I ordered. I misheard what the waiter had said when he brought the tray. He had said that he had brought Lo mein and Hotpot and Chow mein was yet to be ready. I gave the green-eyed man a forced smile. He smiled back eating the Chow mein I ordered. No one else noticed except the green-eyed man and my friend. Even though embarrassment lingered only around our table, l just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.
