You're not doing me a favour
So why does it feel like you think you are...
*Image of what I imagine a Spanish waiter is thinking when I ask them for, I dont know, an Estrella'*
CAVEAT - I KNOW NOT ALL WAITERS IN SPAIN ARE LIKE THIS, PLEASE PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I KNOW, BUT THIS DOES HAPPEN LIKE 3 OUT OF 10 TIMES HERE
One of the nicest things about living here is the ability to just take a leisurely stroll and bump into a lovely looking cafe or restaurant to have a drink or meal. Spanish people have a wonderful way of taking their time over these things, in a way that I don’t think happens in England, and certainly not in London. It’s all ‘takeaway coffee’ whilst you’re walking to the train station or ‘quick lunch’ with a friends - we’re forever explaining away the need to hustle and bustle in the UK. In Spain, people do things right, and take some time to sit down and have a coffee or spend 2 hours having lunch (I do always wonder how people do it on a weekday though - I wish).
However, every so often, there’s a fly in the ointment - that is the service. I don’t mean any special kind of service, or flourishes, or special (American) attention - I just sometimes feel that I have supremely pissed off the waiter by yknow, like, asking for a drink. Or I don’t know, ordering some food. This shouldn’t be the case, but sometimes they’re looking at me like I have 3 heads because we need a drink top up. I actually sometimes avoid asking them , and check with myself that I really need to ask them, before asking because I’m scared of their reaction! In England, there is a bit of secret deal that if we smile at each other and treat each other politely we can both achieve what we’re there to do in this restaurant (wait on people or drink/eat) in peace, but sometimes in a Spanish establishment, I feel like I’ve got it wrong and I’m there interrupting the waiter by asking to be waited on. It’s kinda stressful.
I really wouldn’t want to ask anyone for a favour, I thought it was the job of the restaurant to serve me the food / drink I ask and pay for at their establishment? I thought those were the terms… but I think I still don’t understand the social contract here.
Tell me - where am I going wrong?!