Overhead in an upscale restaurant in Xintiandi, while having lunch there today on their terrace in the sun. At the table next to me a couple sits down, an old Italian man in a suit without tie wearing dark sunglasses, and his young Chinese girlfriend who, judging from the way she acts, seems to be here for the first time. He wants to order beer, but she is a bit reluctant. He does not care, under the motto “a day without alcohol is a day not lived”. The waiter arrives at their table.

Man (in a thick Italian accent): “Two Heineken please”
Waiter: “Large or small, sir?”
Man: “Ah, you have different sizes. Then give us a large one with two glasses”
Waiter: “OK, a large Heineken with two glasses”
Man: “Make sure it is ice cold”
Waiter: “OK, with ice” and immediately walks away
Man (screaming loudly at the waiter who is almost inside already): “No, no ice, I just want ice cold beer”
Waiter: “OK, cold beer”

2 minutes later the waiter comes back with a large glass of draft beer and two small empty glasses. The Italian almost goes ballistic: “I ordered a large bottle of beer” (he did not, by the way, he just assumed it would be a bottle – which is of course logical if you ask for two glasses with a beer). The inexperienced waiter has no idea what he did wrong and brings another large draft beer to cool the man down. But now the young girl is not happy, because she suddenly has to drink a whole large beer by herself.

I decide to leave the couple to themselves, ask for the bill and leave the scene.