“Here, sonny, over here there’s a nice piece behind you . . . ” “C’mon, do it again . . . ”

“He’s not so (phrase). It’s easier to break ’em than to wash ’em . . . ”

As his vacant eyes moved across the crowd of amused onlookers, he slowly mirrored their smiles and finally broke into an uncertain grin at the joke which he obviously did not understand.

I felt sick inside as I looked at his dull, vacuous smile, the wide bright eyes of a child, uncertain but eager to please. They were laughing at him because he was mentally (phrase).

And I had been laughing at him too.

—“Flowers for Algernon,”
Daniel Keyes

What does Charlie realize about himself at the diner?

He is much smarter than the waiter.
He would be a better waiter.
He was just like the boy before.
He does not like diners.