Sunday, August 08, 2010

Dumplings and Tofu c/o Long River

When I got back from Brooklyn I didn't have the energy nor food for dinner, so I asked S. if he wanted to purchase Chinese food with me. He did. I called and ordered for the both of us and then waited for the call that would let me know that it had arrived. I can't really do justice to the events that took place after that moment, but I'll at least run them on down. First I get a phone call from the delivery man repeating my address to me, so I told him I would be right down. I go down to my stoop and look around, and can't see him. So I call him back and tell him that I don't see him and make sure he he understands that while my address may say that I'm on Street X, the entrance is actually on Street Y. He repeats my address to me and says that he's coming. Then I wait another five minutes. Then S. comes down, wondering about the food. We wait. We wait some more. The guy calls again. Now here's what you need to understand. No matter what I might say to him, his response was always '[CC's address] yes, I'm coming there.' When I asked him where he was at the time, he wouldn't tell me. When I asked him how long it would take, he wouldn't tell me. Just the same address, yes I'm coming. It was frustrating. I mean, I quickly understood that the man's grasp of English wasn't very good, but it didn't change the fact that I was standing in my barefeet at the bottom of my apartment for 20 minutes having the same back and forth conversation with a man who didn't seem to understand anything I was trying to say. At some point I was so frustrated I handed the phone to S., knowing full well he wouldn't get any further than I did...and he didn't. So we stood and we stood some more until the guy finally appeared. But even his appearance was dramatic. We live on a one way street. This guy, this guy backs his car up an entire block, going the wrong way, to get to us. He does this with speed. So much speed that when he finally stops in front of us, the wheels screech and fishtail. I don't know what his deal was. Maybe he was drunk or just confused. I gave him a $2 tip.
The food itself was still, surprisingly, rather warm and good on the whole. I could have done with less broccoli and more tofu.

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