Would You Like Tea With That?

There are two popular bubble tea places in St. Louis. They are owned by the same person and both are aptly named "St. Louis Bubble Tea." One is close to my house, only about a mile away, and not an unpleasant walk on a fine day. The other I used to only know as the one where my friend had worked on Olive and Fee Fee, which I associated with being closer to the more concentrated Taiwanese population in St. Louis. If you so much as mention Fee Fee Road to a Taiwanese-St. Louisian, they'll probably know where it is, what's located on it, and how to get there. Within seven or so hours of the last lunch at TAF in August, most of the campers that were headed back to St. Louis arrived in St. Louis. It was quickly decided that we should all meet up, have dinner and go out for bubble tea. Four of us arrived at Steak 'n Shake first, myself included. As we waited near the entrance for the others, I wondered what the staff thought of us as we took pictures against the door, which is marked in inches so that in the case of a robbery, one could estimate the height of the robber. Eventually, nine of us were crowded around several tables put together and we dined on root beer floats, ice cream, fries, and of course, the quintessential steakburgers and shakes of Steak 'n Shake. We were joined by another TAFer, somewhat refreshed by the nap we had just woken him out of, as we were leaving Steak 'n Shake. Minutes later, I stepped into the St. Louis Bubble Tea on Olive for the first time and was promptly greeted and hugged by my friend Karen who I hadn't seen since May. As the group of ten walked through the door, she asked me jokingly, "Are these all Taiwanese people?" A bubble tea shop is a place where Asians aren't necessarily "out of place" or conspicious in America, but it was still amusing to see the empty shop fill up with our "little" group, while the people on duty were two Caucasians, and Karen, who is Chinese. A Caucasian couple in their thirties later walked in and ordered hot English tea. The couple waited for their tea at the counter and upon being served, sat at a table outside. Perhaps they would have felt more at ease in a Starbucks, or if the shop hadn't been full with a group of Asians. It was curious to see them come in on that late Sunday night, but for people who suddenly yearn for the taste tea, I can't think of many places in St. Louis that serve better tea than a tea shop like St. Louis Bubble Tea. Not that they only serve tea -- its also one of the few places I know of that serves almost disgustingly delicious fried chicken. Now... if a group of Asians robbed a Steak 'n Shake, would they be described by their height according to the door, or by the general assumption that Asians are short? Jessica likes Steak 'n Shake as much as she likes bubble tea and tea in general. She loves Mr. Brown Green Tea, which is not available for purchase in St. Louis, and has asked for 16 bags of 30 packets each of Mr Brown Green Tea for her 16th birthday only half-jokingly.