Same, but different

I encountered a light-hearted example of communication failure last weekend while having breakfast at Laurelthirst, where many of the breakfasts are numbered and available in two forms – two-egg scrambles or three-egg omelets – and several options for sides. A couple sat at the next table and the waiter was taking their order:

Woman: “I’d like the #6, please, as a scramble, with a biscuit, and hash browns.”

Man: “I’ll have the same thing, except a #5.”

I understand what he was saying---also a scramble, also with a biscuit, and also with hash browns. Yet to say you want the same thing as the #6, except you want a #5, is like saying, “My wife drives a Malibu. I drive the same car, except it’s a Taurus.” Both may be sedans, both may be automatics, both may have a CD player and power locks and fold-down seating and scores of other similarities --- but they’re not the same car.

I suspect the waiter would side with me on this clarification, as I saw him write “2” next to the #6 order, then scratch it out when he realized that it wasn’t the same thing at all.

Did the gentleman placing the order succeed in simplifying his order? He probably saved a few seconds, so if that’s a measure of success, perhaps. But to me, it still seems like a strange way to order the #5.

Just the facts, ma'am.

Listening to OPB news this week, I heard a story about a triple slaying in Oregon, and a particular factoid caught my ear. I visited OPB’s website and found the attached article, which included the line that had piqued my interest:

“Thompson said all four knew each other, and the three victims were unemployed.”

Is the reporter implying that their unemployment was a contributing factor in their deaths? Oregon’s unemployment rate at this time was 12.2%, so being out of work is hardly an exclusive club. Would it have been worthy of note if they were all Democrats? Sagittarians? Fans of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond”? Do unemployed people now have to worry about murder along with rejection, foreclosure, and eventual starvation?

I have reread the article several times, looking for the link between their employment status and their murders. All I could find was the fact that “Thompson” said they were all unemployed---and “Thompson” makes no previous appearance in the article. Thus, I’ll chalk this up to amateur reporting and careless editing.