The guy at the noodle stand in Shanghai told me to stop using my phone at dinner

I was eating at this tiny place near Jing'an Temple last year, just me and a bowl of beef noodles. This older Chinese guy sits down across from me, points at my phone, and says 'food is for talking, not tapping.' I put it away and we ended up chatting for twenty minutes about his son in Vancouver, using hand gestures and broken English. Has anyone else had a stranger call them out like that and actually appreciated it?

2 comments

2 Comments

tara70014d ago

Did he actually say that or did you piece it together from his gestures? I am curious because I had a similar thing happen at a dumpling place in Taipei where the old lady chef just kept shaking her head at me and pointing at my lap. She didn't speak a word of English but I got the message loud and clear. Did you feel weird putting the phone away or did it feel natural?

spencer_moore3914d ago

Exactly, it's like we've all forgotten how to read a room without a digital manual. The older generation especially seems to have this unspoken language down pat, and that old lady in Taipei probably knew more about what you needed than a five-page menu would've told you.