Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CULTURE QUIZ
SITUATION 1
An evening at a good French restaurant is planned with
friends who are visiting Paris for the first time. You've made
reservations and arrive a bit late to find the
maître d'
cool
and the waiters unfriendly. Your guests complain that French
people are rude. Do you:
Agree with your friends and concede that this is just
another example, making it a good evening in spite of
the unfriendliness by laughing with your friends at the
supercilious attitude of the staff?
Ignore your friends' comment and apologise for being late
and strive all evening to make up for it to the restaurant
staff?
Interpret the attitude at the restaurant as normal and brush
off your friends' comments?
Strive to explain to your friends about the Paris waiter's
rudeness game and show him how to play it, in return?
Attempt through your serious interest in the wine and
cuisine to win over the waiters and prove your friends
wrong?
Comments
This situation comes up so many times in Paris, it should be
in every guidebook. French waiters are professionals; they
take their work seriously and with pride. By recognising them
as professionals, you can avoid the emotional reaction of
feeling rejected by their coolness, and teach your compatriots
to adopt the French attitude towards food. So,
is the most
productive. Though you can still enjoy your evening with
your friends by ignoring the situation, it in turn makes you
appear rude to the restaurant staff and reconfirms their view
that foreigners don't appreciate French cuisine or behave
properly in public.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search