Are you a vegetarian vegetarian?

was what the waitress asked Mike after he had put in his order. You see, he wanted to get a veggie burger in an American inspired local restaurant belonging to a small chain. And she thought she recognized a real vegetarian so she just had to make sure not to get him the usual side dish of beans with bacon bits. Instead, she came up with a salad of fresh greens. Kuddos to her for understanding a vegetarian diet. Oftentimes it seems that servers in restaurants do not fathom that dishes like cauliflower soup or sauerkraut or potato-barley mash aren't necessarily vegetarian.