Learning Strategies

Ate lunch today at the Blue Fin, a favorite inexpensive Japanese restaurant in Little Tokyo, a.k.a. the Porter Exchange Building in Cambridge. A new sign lists the types of identification that are acceptable for ordering alcoholic beverages — mostly the usual, such as Mass. driver’s license, passport, military ID, and so forth. But then there’s “ID issued by Mexican consulate.” Why only Mexican? Why not the Japanese consulate, say? Is Japanese food a particular favorite of Mexicans? Do Mexican visitors tend to frequent Porter Square? Is there perhaps a Mexican consulate in the same building? (We actually checked. The answer is no.) ’Tis a puzzlement.

If I were more comfortable with modern technology, I would have snapped a photo of the sign to add a visual to this post. But it just never occurred to me that I could have used my cell phone to take a picture. I guess I’m still in the low-tech rut of not thinking of photography unless I actually have a camera with me. Unlike my students, I automatically place my cell in the phone category, not the camera, calculator, music player, or game machine categories. And don’t tell me about the iPhone.

Labels: life, technology