Are You Smoking?

Situation: One day, I was having lunch with some male teachers in a coffee shop.

Mr. A: The food in Miri leaves a lot to be desired. It is Not as good as that in
Kuching.

Mr. B: Agreed. We are spoilt for choice there.

Mr. C: I find it quite alright. The chicken rice I'm having is palatable enough.

Mr. A:(face turning in my direction)Mr. Lo, are you smoking?

Me :(baffled) No, I am not.

Mr. A: Are you saying that you are not smoking?

Me : Yes, exactly.

Mr. A: A-ha!You have just committed a serious grammatical error!

Me : What's wrong with my sentence?

Mr. A: Are you a non-smoker?

Me : Yes,I hate smoking.

Mr. A:(smiling slyly)As an English teacher, you should have responded to my
question by saying,'No, I don't smoke.'

Me : But your question was 'Are you smoking?'. I thought you'd mistaken me for
smoking!

Mr. A: I was only testing you. I wanted to find out how good your English was.
Apparently your English leaves a lot to be desired!

Me : Then you should have asked me,"Do you smoke?" instead of 'are you smoking?'

Mr. A:He-he, you seem to be angry now.Remember, I was just testing you.

Me : (getting annoyed)But you are being unreasonable.

Mr. B: C'mon, Mr. Lo, Mr. A was just teasing you.

Mr. C: It's always good to learn more English.

Me : I am not angry. I was trying to tell him what was right.

Mr. A: (treating my seriousness with raillery)I know English well. I speak English at home. I like setting language traps for fun.We need laughter to live a happy life.

Mr. B: well said, Mr. A

Mr. C: I will trick my friends with the same question.

Me :(saying in a frustrated tone)Let's continue eating. My rice is getting cold!