Sunday, April 01, 2012
What the Americans can teach us
I've just come back home from brunch in a cafe. I love brunch. And I love it in the USA. You can order a bottomless mimosa, and a main of almond french toast (which comes with vanilla bean cream cheese, fresh citrus compote, and vermont syrup) along with a side order of bacon, and no-one bats an eyelid. You can order anything you want with anything else you want at any time of day or night and the waiting staff will say "Of course" or "You're welcome." They won't say "We don't serve sandwiches in the evening," or "We stop serving lunch at 3" or some other piffling British non-service crap. Let's hear it for the Yanks!
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2 comments:
Yes, certainly something I miss when back in England , but why is there such a difference? The American style of service is what we all yearn for, being on the receiving end of it does make you feel better and the people in the service industry in America appear so much happier and relaxed in their work ............ so why does it not happen in England .......my American husband says he feels the English are too regulated by rules , or what is proper.......not a word commonly used in the USA but liberally sprinkled throughout English conversation!
Jean
Hi Jean, that's a very interesting suggestion about the properness. I hadn't thought of that ione before but it makes sense. I have wondered if it is something to do with the class system - people in the British service industry don't want people they are serving to think they are above them, so they try to keep some power by denying them things, or insisting the customer plays by the server's rules. And then, of course, there are some British people who treat people in the service industry as second-class, and below consideration or politeness. It's one unholy mess and I don't see the way out of it. There's the other thing, too - that American waiters depend on a their tips to boost their inadequate wages, so it pays them to be really attentive and smiley - and I am not blaming them when I say that.
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