Today I felt that need - the need for Chinese feed. So we headed down to 1 Chinese, just down the road from our place. It's run by a lady and her oldest son, who is about twelve. He takes orders over the phone, struggles to reach the drink machine to refill your drinks (that he brings to you with his finger in it), and overall makes the experience a rewarding and amusing one.
As we went up to pay, he was on the phone with someone, and said something about December. After he hung up, I said "What was that about December?" - because it seemed like rather a long time in advance to be placing a lunch order. He thought about it for a moment, then pointed at his missing front tooth and explained that it was missing. His mother (a better English listener than speaker) chattered at him in Chinese, so he looked at me. "Wait, what you ask me, say again?" So I asked again, what was that you said about December, on the phone? "Oh, we get new calendar," he explained. Ahh, the 2009 calendars, I said aloud, to indicate my understanding. "No, 2008 I think," he replied. He looked at his mother and gabbled away in Chinese, with 2008 and 2009 being the only recognizable elements of the sentence. She replied, "Too-sousan-nye!"
He looked up at me and said, "2008!"
At this point, his mother goes into crazy Chinese chatter mode and grabs his head like a melon, and gives it a why-I-oughtta shake. She hollers into his open mouth, "TOO-SOUSAN-NYE!" then looks at us, amused, and says "STOOPEHD!"
I'm sorry, I can't help but laugh.
