Differences between France and Australia #1,928
When sending a meal back to the kitchen in France (for example, the chicken skewers were not properly cooked and you're really not a fan of salmonella), one feels guilty for having bothered the waiter. And one feels that one must apologise profusely for having taken up their time.
In Australia, it would oftentimes be the waiter who would feel guilty and who would apologise profusely. And the manager might come out to apologise profusely. As might the cook. And then you'd get a free drink.
Obviously, this is yet another sweeping generalisation amongst many sweeping generalisations we like to make (in reality, waiters in Paris, at least, are quite professional and take their job more seriously than many waiters in Australia), but in every sweeping generalisation, isn't there a tiny grain of truth?
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I agree. Last week I sent back a pichet of wine which tasted of vinegar and the waitress immediately started arguing, even though we ordered a more expensive bottle instead. We then had the worst service and cold food. All you do is not go back and tell all your friends - but not necessarily stand outside warning people like you did once!
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I remember going back to Sydney from France a couple of years ago with my French boyfriend and buying smoothies from one of those stands in a shopping mall. We had been waiting for the girl to make them, for what was really only about one minute - certainly less than the expected smoothie-making time -and she came back to us and said "I am SO sorry." We responded, curiously "Why?" "Because of the delay! You can have one of them for free." I can't imagine that happening here in Paris.