Fun Stuff > CHATTER
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
bainidhe_dub:
Yeah it felt kind of stupid. Especially having to ask the able-bodied 30-something with two bags and a gallon of milk if they needed any help.
cesium133:
--- Quote from: Carl-E on 15 Sep 2013, 08:03 ---
--- Quote from: ankhtahr on 15 Sep 2013, 06:30 ---Not all of them are right-wing-extremists, of all types of Verbindungen, there are the most right-wing-extremists in Burschenschaften. Some of the Corps are bad as well. Well, Corps are typically hardliners anyway.
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--- Quote from: Method of Madness on 15 Sep 2013, 06:32 ---Yeah, but then you get the napkin dirty. Also the napkin should be in your lap.
--- End quote ---
Post whiplash.
About the ... fraternities. Many in the US had a similar reputation, but that's abated a lot thanks to the intervention of the universities themselves, and the national orders of which the local fraternities are chapters. If a fraternity wanted to have a presence at a university campus, they had to conform to the University's requirements. And so many of the "old ways" (especially the constant underage drinking, incorporated hate practices and hazing) had to be toned down, at least publicly.
Aside from the service fraternities, they're still pretty much nests of horridness.
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At the very least, they've had to pretend to tone them down. Supposedly there's no alcohol at any of the fraternities here. I guess the puke piles that show up on the sidewalk in the frat house neighborhood every weekend are due to Alpha-Beta-Whatever's Raw Oyster Fridays...
Welu:
--- Quote from: Loki on 15 Sep 2013, 05:16 ---
--- Quote from: Welu on 14 Sep 2013, 15:32 --- I've had people look at me after I've said, "Excuse me." and not make any effort to move. :x
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...to be fair, the sentence "excuse me" alone is not exactly unambiguous.
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I think if you're sitting on the floor of a hall with your legs stretched out, what I'm requesting is obvious. If someone says, "Excuse me." to me and I'm not sure what they want, I ask or at the least ask, "Yes?" I don't turn to look at the person, stay silent while staring for a moment then turn away. Also most people would also consider me rude if I included "Excuse me, can you move, please? / Can I get past, please?" because I've suggested they were being awkward.
--- Quote from: bainidhe_dub on 15 Sep 2013, 08:15 ---
--- Quote from: Welu on 14 Sep 2013, 15:32 ---How chatty are shop workers in the USA? In the shop I work in we've actually been told things like, "Be polite and friendly but don't get Americanised with your service." Referring to the, "What can I get you? Would you like anything else? Is everything okay? Thanks for shopping here. Have a great day!" eagerness people think is done. I know on an individual level it would differ but in general.
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When I worked as a cashier at a large chain grocery store (Safeway) we had a whole list of things we were required to say: Good morning/afternoon, how are you today? Did you find everything all right? Paper or plastic bags? (now there is a bag tax so they have to ask if you need any bags. that's the signal for the customer to hand over their reusable bags if they brought any.) Do you have a club card? Your total is ___. (then any coaching through the payment machine) Here's your receipt Mr./Ms. ____. (name is on the receipt if they used their club card) Would you like any assistance in the parking lot with your bags?
For a smaller purchase, it becomes a constant stream of chatter without ever having a conversation with the customer. But they would have "secret shoppers" come through and grade us, so if you skipped any part of the script you'd lose points.
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Sounds similar to here, we get secret shoppers too. The only things I'm obligated to say/do is, "Hello (while smiling). Do you want a bag? Is that everything? Thanks. Goodbye." Although there's some lenience for people who come straight to the till with no items and want cigarettes or lottery. I'd only ask someone if they needed help with their bags if they seemed unable and/or had a lot of items. Also giving a receipt is hard in my shop. It's only a small convenience with 90% regulars who don't want it. If they need to return something, we'll usually trust a regular or the purchase can be brought up again easily if it's they come back within a couple hours.
Right now we're meant to be trying to sell something which people qualify for after spending a certain amount on particular items but I hate asking customers. I haven't managed to sell on one, except to another worker who pity-bought one.
Barmymoo:
I'm glad I didn't have a script I had to follow when I worked in Sainsbury's - we did get secret shoppers but they simply looked to see if we were being polite, friendly and helpful. Sometimes if I cheerfully said hello to a customer and they didn't respond, I would take that as my cue and not chat. Other times people would be obviously in the mood to talk so I would do that. I'd have hated any fake interaction that neither person wanted.
Caspian Sea Monster:
--- Quote from: bainidhe_dub on 15 Sep 2013, 08:15 ---Here's your receipt Mr./Ms. ____. (name is on the receipt if they used their club card)
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This ranks unreasonably high on my banes-of-existence list for possibly obvious reasons.
The constant stream of faux conversation grates on my nerves and to that I always make a specific point of shaking the cashier out of their vocal script by actually engaging them in conversation. Sometimes the cashier looks stunned when you respond "I'm fine, how are you today?" or "I have 20 stitches in my foot. How're you?" My regularly scheduled misgendering at Safeway is nothing something I look forward to, though.
As for tableware ('cutlery', in my mind, refers to various knives that do not belong at the table,) eating anything that requires actual cutting is done with a knife in the right hand and fork in the left hand; in both cases, the 'back' of the implement is against the palm of the hand while the index finger runs down the spine to give added leverage, the fork speared downward into the food while the back of the tines act as a guide for the knife. I always understood this as the "proper" way to eat steak... and also that steak is the only thing you have to eat "properly" because all the ☆☆☆☆ and ☆☆☆☆☆ restaurants where I grew up (or that I knew about or went to, anyway) were steakhouses. In basically all other circumstances where the fork is involved, it stays in the right hand, held like a spoon or pencil while eating (like the previously linked graphic,) but the edge of it is used to cut apart (smash, really) things like fish and chicken whilst holding it similar to in the fork-and-knife scenario above - pommel in palm, index finger along the edge for strength and/or great justice. Ultimately neither is the primary way of eating - I'd say at least 60% of my main meals are finger-foods; sandwiches, burritos, pizza, etc.
One of my best friends is mildly germophobic and refuses to eat anything with her hands. I will never not poke fun at her for, in My Kingdom For A Fork level desperation, eating a donut with a plastic spoon.
"Proper" place setting is a pet peeve of mine. I know how to "properly" set a table, it was something I was taught in high school. I want to travel back in time, find the person who invented this asinine way of doing things, and flog them to death. I'm right handed. When I set my own table at home, the cup and all of the flatware go on the right side of the plate. If I'm doing fork-in-left-hand-knife-in-right, then I'll pass the fork hand-to-hand. My family has just learned to deal with this and not argue with me about it. In-use silverware sits on the edge of the plate when not in-hand. We also almost universally serve food buffet-style in this household; most of the food stays in the kitchen, you load up your plate there and bring it to the table. I don't think this is typical anywhere in the US, we're just weird and/or lazy.
At home, Paper napkins (I know, terribly wasteful) only come from the Lazy Susan in the center of the table when they are needed. At restaurants the cloth napkin goes in my lap and stays there for the remainder of the meal.
What I'm more interested in is elbows. I was always told growing up (not necessarily by my parents) that having your elbows on the table while eating is extremely rude and the kind of thing you get flogged for in etiquette schools and at West Point and the like. This seems insane to me. My elbows are always up on the table while I'm eating, and it seems like most people I interact with do it too. Does anyone else have anything to say about that?
I have grown up with self-service gas stations all my life. Full-service gas stations in California are about as ubiquitous as unicorns. Meanwhile it is against the law in the state of Oregon (and New Jersey I guess) for various reasons to pump your own gas and I find this completely bizarre. For also various reasons full-service gas stations make me very uncomfortable. No, I'd rather pay the machine or the person at the counter in the store. No, I don't want you fondling my car's nether bits, get the hell away. Also I didn't know that pump-then-pay was even a thing anywhere in the world - like, seriously? You trust people that much? This is unfathomable.
Also, I find squat toilets absolutely terrifying.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHMcjsdU1JI
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