I met a friend after six months apart, and when she asked what was new, my two-minute story made her yawn twice — until a guy at the next table apologized to me because he “felt sorry” for how bored she looked. Another day, my girlfriend and I went to our usual Japanese restaurant for a small meal, but the waitress scolded us for ordering lightly and told us to “just get takeout next time.” When she rushed the bill without a word, I left no tip — something my coworkers later judged me for.

Small moments stick with us, too. Back in college, a guy kissed me while a popular song played; we broke up soon after, but 15 years later, every time I hear it, the memory flashes back even though neither he nor the song meant much. And once, a man I met online asked me out for tea and cake; 15 minutes into the date, he suggested going to his place for dumplings. I stayed for three days. We dated for a year, and he eventually admitted the dumpling trick was his guaranteed way to impress someone he liked.

Not all food stories are sweet. At a kids’ club restaurant, we waited two hours for our order while hungry children kept begging for food. When my husband brought fries from next door, the staff tried to stop us. Eventually a waiter admitted the cook was too hungover to work and a replacement was only just starting earlier orders — so we left and never returned. Another time, on vacation, we waited more than two hours only to receive a raw steak and learn the staff had spent all that time searching the entire town for zucchinis for one dish instead of bringing us the rest of our food.

But dining can surprise you in good ways, too. On our first night in Bulgaria, exhausted and starving, we went to a nearby restaurant and were shocked by the giant portions — nearly a liter of soup, a huge flatbread, and piles of vegetables. The waiter whispered that he had secretly given us “bigger portions,” and from then on, we learned one serving was enough for two.