a few amusing anecdotes I like to whip out when there's a lull in conversation:

one

My in-laws have a golden/pit bull mix named Buddy. They also have a pair of older-couple friends we sometimes see when they invite people over for dinner. One year, this couple hosted an exchange student from Japan named Sam. Sam was the most polite and personable twelve-year-old boy in the history of the world. Sam played with Katie and watched with interest as I carried around Zac, who was an infant at the time. Now, I have dozens of nicknames for Zac: Bud, Buddy, Dude, and many, many others. I very rarely call him by his name. On this particular day when we met Sam, I was in a very "Bud" mood. For the day, Zac was "Bud".

At one point, Zac got hungry and I went into the bedroom at the back of the house to feed him. Sam, being friendy and inquisitive, wondered where he had gone and asked Ryan, "Where's Bud?"

Ryan was puzzled. "You mean Buddy? The dog?"

"No, the baby. Your baby. Bud".

Two

Nick's Fishmarket is a restaurant on the bottom floor of a very unremarkable-looking hotel way, way off the beach. My dad, while here with my mom during a vist, heard about Nick's from a local. On his urging, we all got dressed one night and dropped in.

Now, the velvet high-back chairs should have been a warning sign. And generally, if the place has a wine list, you're probably going to shell out a bit more. But the twenty dollar appetizers threw us for a huge loop. I had no idea the place was so expensive. And I knew it was a little out of my folks' price range. I looked at my mom, whose jaw made an audible thud sound when she picked up her menu. Silently, she and I and Ryan all agreed to order only the cheapest appetizer and drink water.

My dad? Got a whole steamed lobster and a glass of merlot. I don't know who's nuttier: my dad, for spending forty bucks on a meal, or me, for passing up free lobster.

three (I stole this one from Ryan)

Ryan used to work for an international trade organization. He met many interesting people in that job. One of those people, the chairman of the organization, was an international shipping tycoon whose buisiness operated in Hong Kong. His fleet, I am told, is larger than the Australian Navy. One of this guy's favorite things was to round up the employees and take them out to dinner. They were encouraged to order whatever they wanted.

On one dinner outing, when the check arrived, he joked, "Okay, who ordered the cheesecake?". Everyone had a laugh, including Ryan's friend David.

On the next dinner outing, David displayed his sense of humor. He asked the chairman if he could get a piece of cheesecake. The chairman, not realizing that David was kidding, said, "Oh, let me get a waiter and have him bring you some". He got up, found a waiter, and had a piece of cheesecake delivered to David.

Imagine that. Having a billionaire shipping tycoon fetch you a piece of cheesecake.

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