Word of their arrival preceded them; their bucket already rested upon the 
table. The small plastic cups of gravy, coleslaw, potatoes, and so on had been 
carefully arranged. As usual, the bucket was placed squarely in front of 
Chang's seat, for he would be responsible for consumption of most of it. They 
ate in silence for a few minutes, communicating through eye contact and other 
subtleties, then spent several minutes exchanging polite formal chatter.