Arbeit Macht Frei

[Sigurd]

I just don't get it why Americans are so obsessed with service. I have seen it here when we have US family over. The one thing they will go on and on about is poor quality service. IMO it is just fine. You go in, tell them what you want and when you get it, you pay. If they give you an extra smile, count your blessings.

[HoreTore]

I just don't get it why Americans are so obsessed with service. I have seen it here when we have US family over. The one thing they will go on and on about is poor quality service. IMO it is just fine. You go in, tell them what you want and when you get it, you pay. If they give you an extra smile, count your blessings.

Different standards of what counts as polite, I guess. Frankly, I don't find heavy use of "polite words"(thank you, please, etc) as very polite at all, I find it dishonest... Collecting the plates so that the waiter has an easier time, now that is an example of politeness.

I guess we value action over appearances here, Sigurd.

[Centurion1]

Different standards of what counts as polite, I guess. Frankly, I don't find heavy use of "polite words"(thank you, please, etc) as very polite at all, I find it dishonest... Collecting the plates so that the waiter has an easier time, now that is an example of politeness.

I guess we value action over appearances here, Sigurd.

There isn't anything wrong or dishonest with manners. Personally I find its often geographic. When i'm down south at home everyone has more manners and I am therefore happier as i'm a yes sir maam type. When I go up to uni the rest o the year its depressing. I had one litttle black woman look astonished when I said thank you ma'am after I got some food. I almost cried.

Regardless, people are freaking pigs. Because I wake up so early for PT in the morning i talk to the janitorial staff quite a bit. And I constantly find myself feeling like i need to apologize for the slovenly behavior of my peers because its so embarrassing. Too often I will find an attitude of "it's their job", no it is not the janitors job to clean shit off the wall or pick up piles of trash in the trash room because you were too lazy to actually put it in the can.

Different standards of what counts as polite, I guess. Frankly, I don't find heavy use of "polite words"(thank you, please, etc) as very polite at all, I find it dishonest... Collecting the plates so that the waiter has an easier time, now that is an example of politeness.

I guess we value action over appearances here, Sigurd.

Jesus your insufferable. Actually I have found Europeans are touchy, rude, dirty, and poor tippers and I hate working for them. When I worked on a sport fishing boat European tourists were hands down the worst. Americans tipped well but were often rude and East Asians tended to be the best customers hands down. I don't care if you don't tip in Europe regularly we do here and its not like a bonus most workers often need it.

[Sir Moody]

Jesus your insufferable. Actually I have found Europeans are touchy, rude, dirty, and poor tippers and I hate working for them. When I worked on a sport fishing boat European tourists were hands down the worst. Americans tipped well but were often rude and East Asians tended to be the best customers hands down. I don't care if you don't tip in Europe regularly we do here and its not like a bonus most workers often need it.

nice to see you aren't racial stereotyping a wide and diverse population

a lot like the US, Europe is made up of a wide range of different people - each with their own ideas when it comes to politeness - you will find what the French consider polite entirely different from the Poles or our Scandinavian cousins.

As to tipping - you have to account for the fact it differers country to country - in the UK we tend to tip around 10% the value of the order - my German relatives tend to tip less (no idea why) and some countries in Europe use "Service charges" which puts the tip automatically onto the bill - they may not realise they haven't tipped

As to Horetore's comment, I think you are exaggerating here - I am a very traditional "p's and q's" type but even I found the constant "Have a nice day!" in false cheery tones to grate on my nerves after a while on my last visit to the states - it is very much a cultural thing...

[Vladimir]

As to Horetore's comment, I think you are exaggerating here - I am a very traditional "p's and q's" type but even I found the constant "Have a nice day!" in false cheery tones to grate on my nerves after a while on my last visit to the states - it is very much a cultural thing...

I believe that's the point. The false tones betray their intent. A polite person will generally mean it.

[Sigurd]

I believe that's the point. The false tones betray their intent. A polite person will generally mean it.

I have quite the beef with "American" behavior. But... I will not vent them all here as I would just be blasting the stereotype.
I am sure you have all sorts of types of Americans, but the ones who gets to me is the cheery, flowery, everything is positive kind.

I just cringe when they ask: "How are you doing"? WTH... do you really want to know? No... it's just a meaningless phrase and you are forced to answer in a positive way... "I am just wonderful, thank you very much" even though you are racked with arthritis and have just undergone heavy handed treatment for suppressing your bone marrow for producing too much blood cells.

[Strike For The South]

I couldn't imagine going anywhere without the small talk.

How do you people function?

When you go into a shop, or the bank, what do you say to eachother?

In Texas these develop into full blown conversations. In West Texas, you need to budget time simply to talk.

When I go to Europe I will speak to everyone

[Tuuvi]

I have quite the beef with "American" behavior. But... I will not vent them all here as I would just be blasting the stereotype.
I am sure you have all sorts of types of Americans, but the ones who gets to me is the cheery, flowery, everything is positive kind.

I just cringe when they ask: "How are you doing"? WTH... do you really want to know? No... it's just a meaningless phrase and you are forced to answer in a positive way... "I am just wonderful, thank you very much" even though you are racked with arthritis and have just undergone heavy handed treatment for suppressing your bone marrow for producing too much blood cells.

I'm guilty of this. I say it to customers all the time, because I want to be friendly, but I don't know what else to say and a simple "hello" just doesn't seem good enough. Every once in a while some grumpy old man will get mad and start complaining about his horrible life/day, and then I don't know what to say because sometimes they're joking and sometimes they're perfectly serious.

[Kralizec]

As to tipping - you have to account for the fact it differers country to country - in the UK we tend to tip around 10% the value of the order - my German relatives tend to tip less (no idea why) and some countries in Europe use "Service charges" which puts the tip automatically onto the bill - they may not realise they haven't tipped.

People here generally just round the figure on the bill upwards, and only tip extra if the meal was "good" and not just "okay". I've not actually put much thought into this but 10% seems like the maximum, anything more would be considered a lot.

The "service charge" thingy seems very common in the more tourist-dependant regions in Europe. I wondered some times wether it wasn't just a scam to advertise with false prices, and that the service charge actually ends up in the establishment's coffers. In any case I'd rather have they just incorporated it into the prices they display - it's not a tip and it's not voluntary, ergo it's part of the regular price and should be displayed as such.

[Kadagar_AV]

In Austria, a man would run across a busy street to help a woman with a heavy bag. He wouldn't mind elbowing his way past her in the lift line though.
In Sweden, a man would just walk by the same woman, but respect her spot in the line.

Having worked in an extremly international work where I spend long hours of quality time with people from all over the world, I have learnt to respect differences, and to assume the better of people in situations where I am unsure of their motives.

Russians it took me LONG to understand, they came off as extremely rude to me in the beginning, not to say cold and arrogant. After a while though, I started to understand how they worked, and I now see them as warm and friendly.

As an example, it took me some time to figure out that when they were standing in front of me, staring at me with a grim look on their face, murder in their eyes, looking like they were planning just how to cut up and hide my body... They were actually paying me respect by showing that they were completely focused on what I wanted to teach them.

The US polite culture is actually the culture I have most issues with still. When everyone is acting friendly it's hard to know which people are actually genuinely friendly, and who's just faking it.

Instead give me a stone faced Russian, if they smile at you and ask you about your day, you can take it at face value.

[Strike For The South]

Different standards of what counts as polite, I guess. Frankly, I don't find heavy use of "polite words"(thank you, please, etc) as very polite at all, I find it dishonest... Collecting the plates so that the waiter has an easier time, now that is an example of politeness.

I guess we value action over appearances here, Sigurd.

This has to change if you want to move in with me. Manners in Texas is srs bidness