Peg and I went back to Aladdin’s Eatery for dinner last night–Walid was there, but wasn’t serving our section–and I realized that what I’d taken for potential flirtation on his part at lunch on Thursday was likely nothing more than a cultural artifact. Our waiter last night was nearly as attentive, minus the shoulder touching, largely ignoring Peg in favor of me as he took our order, asked if things were well, and left the check. It wasn’t until he was bringing her credit card slip back that he apparently realized that she, the woman at the table, had paid for the meal, at which point he finally did smile at her and wish her a pleasant evening; Peg was betting up until that moment that he would bring the receipt back to me instead.

So, it probably was the same cultural chauvinism that had Walid ignoring my two female colleagues at the table at lunch the other day in favor of me, rather than his having fallen madly in love with me in the face of my charm and good looks.