> Do you think the way you order food at a restaurant says something about your personality? Can it tell you at least a little bit about someone if food is ordered with "I'd like . . . " or "I'll have . . . " or "Bring me . . . " or "Could I get . . . "? Because I think so. I don't know quite what it would say, though. I try to say "I'd like" because it sounds more polite and less demanding. My sister, on the other hand, always orders with "I'll have", which sounds a bit to me like she's commanding the waitress* around. Any thoughts?
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> -Eric Sleator
> Wed 10 Oct A.D. 2001
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> *I think it's been quite a long time since we've had a waiter at a restaurant instead of a waitress. Now that I think about it, that's quite odd.

I always begin "I'll have..." though now that your post has made me think about, this is why I think I do it that way.

"I'd like..." or "I'll give _______ a try" sounds a tad bit casual (at least to _my_ mind, which is never at its brightest when I'm ordering at a restaurant anyway), and a tad bit roundabout. That's fine for people who feel comfortable being slightly casual and/or roundabout with a waiter. I just always feel so on-the-spot while giving my order to waiters (Heavens knows why, but I do) that I find myself using the more-to-the-point "I'll have...."

I've never thought of it as being a demanding beginning at all, though I'll conceed that it's sort of impersonal.

"Bring me...," on the other hand, *does* sound demanding, and more than a little rude, too.

M"And that's all I've got to say about that"el