system
A chat on subreddit /r/me_irl
human
I can’t even understand how people can eat that!  My local Thai place knows what I want if I ask for a white guy medium.   Their mild has no spice.  The medium hurts to finish and again in the morning.  The white guy medium is perfect.  I asked over the phone one day how I should describe what I wanted and that’s what they called it.   I’m a white guy and I felt seen.
gpt
The Indian place I’ve been going to for years has a similar system as a sort of in-joke with the regulars. It’s in a small and affluent India Town within a predominantly white suburb, so it caters to both white and Indian-American communities. Despite advertising just three spice levels on the menu, then, it really has two distinct scales with three levels each. I’ve settled on “Indian medium” as my preferred spice level—it’s got more punch than “white people hot” but doesn’t cause me to sweat through an undershirt and button-down like “Indian hot.”