Oh yeah..I guess somebody is extremely not happy about that dinner. I thought everything was OK when we played in UC��but I guess I have to say something after seeing the harsh words downstairs. First, yes, we are poor. We don't have an income, and our parents are new immigrants who are not wealthy. If we were considered as friends of somebody, would he let us spend much money on something which is not worth that much? Right, I know the theory about "friendship" and "loyalty". And I know somebody wants to help that poor business because his family are friends of its owners. Aside from how irrational the price is and the reason this business is not running well, it's true that if he walked out of the restaurant, it'd be horrible and terribly disrespectful FOR HIM. But does this help have to come from us? I mean his friends will not necessarily be our friends. They are just strangers in some sense. Why would we stay? For example, would you give some big money to a stranger (not homeless ppl) on the street? Plus, if you really want to help them DEEPLY from you heart, why don't you eat there everyday? Why don't you work there full-time for free? In a word, the reason that somebody is pissed off and embarrassed is just that we didn't give him "mian zi". There's no such word in English. I don't want to say something like, hey this is Canada, we should do things as what Canadians do, and I still truly appreciate the Chinese tradition that friendship is important. I just don't think the situation downstairs has anything to do with the nice tradition. And it's not relevant to our core value either. Yes somebody and us are friends and I treasure this friendship, but this doesn't mean somebody has the right to order us to do whatever IN HIS SITUATION is right. We do things because we have our reasons. Sigh~ "mian zi" is rather important in Chinese culture (although I think it's bad and foolish). Fine, let's say we were supposed to give him "mian zi". Well we could have. We asked him to tell the boss that it's us, these "horrible and terribly disrespectful" friends, wanted to leave, but not him, so he'd have no reason to feel embarrassed. He could have promised the boss that he would bring some richer friends next time. If somebody is mad and even thinks of ending the friendship with us just because he felt he had lost his "mian zi" without trying to make things perfect, I'm sorry for him and I can say "sorry" to him too because of sympathy. Ohh I have said enough. Still, I don't think this thing is a big deal. I don't wanna argue any more, and I still consider everybody as my friend. WOW it's Dec 25th now! MERRY CHRISTMAS~~~~:D got any nice presents? ;)