Last week Rex and I were in Chennai for a couple of days. We were staying in a hotel; one of those which offers a complementary breakfast. Nice one, with buffet breakfast and those made-to-order stalls, where you can request for dosas and omelets, and they make it for you. It was like having the best of both worlds - eat all you want and ala carte!
The first day we were there, we woke up right around the time they were cleaning up, ran downstairs, and begged them to let us grab whatever's left. It wasn't good. I almost choked to death on heat-dried dosa fragments. So, even though the next day was Sunday and we had absolutely no plans, we asked for a wake up call, (actually three, - 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 AM), in order to make it to the breakfast buffet.
I was so proud of myself. It was one of the very few times I made it to the complementary breakfast. Even though I stayed in hotels for long periods, I always used to prefer sleeping in late rather than getting a healthy meal in the morning. It always seemed to be the right thing to do.
So anyways, there I was, minding my own business and focusing on the food, while Rex was nosing around listening into other peoples' conversations, and generally trying to bother people. He obviously didn't share my enthusiasm in our little achievement.
It was right around the time that I was finishing my salad that Rex pointed me to a table with a couple of guys taking to a girl who was waiting on them; one of those from the North Eastern states. The guys seemed like they were Telugu, and one of them was saying, "I want bread". The girl was asking him if he wanted a toast, and he kept saying, "I want bread". Rex was definitely amused. This is the sort of thing he lives for. The back-and-forth went on for a couple more times and then finally the Naga chick decided to go get him his bread.
As soon as the girl left, this guy turns around and says to his friends in Telugu, "That girl is an idiot. I had to say bread 5 times! I keep saying bread, bread, bread, and she keeps asking me if I want something else. I never understand why they hire these stupid Chinks anyway"
I had to grab Rex with both hands to stop him from going over to their table and explain why they were the idiots. It wasn't for long though, since the girl returned with a couple of slices of bread in a plate.
The dude looked at it for a couple of seconds, searched for words a little bit, and then finally said "I want it fried".
I was keeling over and Rex had tears in his eyes. We couldn't stop laughing. It was a pity though, since we didn't quite catch what the girl said in response.
