Americans Like to Make Jokes

I walk into Starbucks across from the university. I'm just going to get some fruit juice and study upstairs. It's a lot less stress than studying at the school library which is full of nineteen year-olds hypnotized by their parents' admonishment, ever on their minds, to perform.

There's no girl at the cash register ready to take my order. Only a ladder, and a Taiwanese guy sitting on top, replacing a lightbulb or something. He looks down at me and I ask him, with a straight face (in Chinese), "Can I get a doppio espresso?"

He is taken off guard. Whereas an American might respond, "Is that for here or to go?", the Taiwanese guy is extremely apologetic and says, "Oh, I am sorry...."

For a second, I wonder if he really thinks I am that stupid. I smile and he realizes I am making a joke.

"Oh, I get it, you're joking," and he smiles.

Finally, someone in Taiwan gets my sense of humor.