Context matters
There are customs that belong to all Countries you would visit, such as giving your seat to pregnant people on a crowded bus or doing the runny thing when someone holds a door open for you.
You know, the runny thingy, where it looks like you are hurrying up but you’re just pretending to sprint and for the rest of the time you move your arms real fast.
Same harmless level of awkwardness as replying ‘thank you, you too’ when a waiter tells you to enjoy your meal. I’m sure we’ve all said it at least once in our life.
Talking about waiters, they must see all sorts of behaviours, especially from foreigners! Asking for a fork, ordering cappuccino with pineapple pizza, leaving a tip or not leaving a tip are just a few that come to mind.
I’ve had my share of embarrassing tipping moments when I first moved to Melbourne and the waiter told me the total, which was $30, and handed me the EFTPOS machine with blank digits to fill. Confused, I tentatively start typing ‘3’ because I thought that’s how they rolled Down Under! At that point, the boyfriend whispers to my ear that would be the tip.
That makes sense! They’re not too relaxed to force me to pay, they’re not-so-subtly hinting a tip is highly appreciated but not mandatory.
At that point I panic, and I am afraid if I press CANC the whole thing needs to be repeated and I didn’t want to seem like I was fresh off a plane. Which I clearly was. So, I nonchalantly leave it at 3. For a grand total of a 0,03 cent tip.
Nailed it! I think to myself as I do the runny thing to exit the restaurant as someone else just entered.
Luckily no one was around to witness this awkward encounter, and the waiter pretended not to notice, unlike that time on a very crowded tram, when I noticed a pregnant lady wearing a striped top was standing at the next stop. As one does, when the doors opened, and I saw stripes coming my way, I stood up smiling and motioning to sit, only to notice it was the wrong striped top.
The stripes I kindly got up for were definitely not pregnant, and not nearly old enough to be expecting a seat. I received the most miserable ‘thank you’ one could ever imagine.
Wrong stripes, if you’re reading this, I once again got caught in my own thoughts and just rolled with it hoping nobody would notice, but in this case, you must have thought you reached that stage in life where you are to be treated like an elderly person. If it makes you feel better, you’re not old and I wouldn’t even help you pick up your public transport card if it fell in front of me. That’s how young I think you are.
My intentions are mostly good, but without context it seems like I left a passive aggressive 0,03 cent tip, and I blatantly implied that some random stripes were either fat or old. This was my chance to own my narrative.
Have you ever done something that got misunderstood, or witnessed foreign habits that would be highly questionable in your home-country?
Image: via
You know, the runny thingy, where it looks like you are hurrying up but you’re just pretending to sprint and for the rest of the time you move your arms real fast.
Same harmless level of awkwardness as replying ‘thank you, you too’ when a waiter tells you to enjoy your meal. I’m sure we’ve all said it at least once in our life.
Talking about waiters, they must see all sorts of behaviours, especially from foreigners! Asking for a fork, ordering cappuccino with pineapple pizza, leaving a tip or not leaving a tip are just a few that come to mind.
I’ve had my share of embarrassing tipping moments when I first moved to Melbourne and the waiter told me the total, which was $30, and handed me the EFTPOS machine with blank digits to fill. Confused, I tentatively start typing ‘3’ because I thought that’s how they rolled Down Under! At that point, the boyfriend whispers to my ear that would be the tip.
That makes sense! They’re not too relaxed to force me to pay, they’re not-so-subtly hinting a tip is highly appreciated but not mandatory.
At that point I panic, and I am afraid if I press CANC the whole thing needs to be repeated and I didn’t want to seem like I was fresh off a plane. Which I clearly was. So, I nonchalantly leave it at 3. For a grand total of a 0,03 cent tip.
Nailed it! I think to myself as I do the runny thing to exit the restaurant as someone else just entered.
Luckily no one was around to witness this awkward encounter, and the waiter pretended not to notice, unlike that time on a very crowded tram, when I noticed a pregnant lady wearing a striped top was standing at the next stop. As one does, when the doors opened, and I saw stripes coming my way, I stood up smiling and motioning to sit, only to notice it was the wrong striped top.
The stripes I kindly got up for were definitely not pregnant, and not nearly old enough to be expecting a seat. I received the most miserable ‘thank you’ one could ever imagine.
Wrong stripes, if you’re reading this, I once again got caught in my own thoughts and just rolled with it hoping nobody would notice, but in this case, you must have thought you reached that stage in life where you are to be treated like an elderly person. If it makes you feel better, you’re not old and I wouldn’t even help you pick up your public transport card if it fell in front of me. That’s how young I think you are.
My intentions are mostly good, but without context it seems like I left a passive aggressive 0,03 cent tip, and I blatantly implied that some random stripes were either fat or old. This was my chance to own my narrative.
Have you ever done something that got misunderstood, or witnessed foreign habits that would be highly questionable in your home-country?
Image: via
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