I was walking out of a restaurant the other day and was reminded of my favorite Thai joke.
A Thai farmer from the deepest darkest regions of Thailand goes on a trip to America. Throughout the entire flight, he's panicking because his English skills are minimal at best.
After an uneventful run through immigration, he finds a taxi, and shows the driver the hotel name on his reservation. Checking in is fairly simple because he only needs to show his passport. With these early successes, he has built up the confidence to venture out for a bite to eat.
Not far from his hotel, he comes across a small diner and sits himself down at a table. Soon, the waitress comes by with a menu. As he expected, it's all in English - not a word of Thai. Starting to sweat, he scans it briefly, hoping that he would recognize something. At first, he's completely lost, but on a second closer reading, he's delighted to find some food and drink that he can understand.
He looks up to the waitress and says slowly, "give me Coke, and give me a Hot Dog." The waitress takes out her pen, writes down the order, and walks away. Very proud of himself, the Thai farmer starts to envision his future, the envy of his entire village, living the American Dream.
A few minutes later, the waitress returns with his meal. The farmer, who was starting to get hungry, looks down at his plate and feels a slow sinking sensation in his stomach.
He looks back up at the waitress, and in his best English he says, "In Thailand, we no eat this part of dog."
Anyway, this "hot dog", chilling next to the restaurant, is what inspired me.
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