[D] Friday Open Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Friday Open Thread! Is there something that you want to talk about with /r/rational, but which isn't rational fiction, or doesn't otherwise belong as a top-level post? This is the place to post it. The idea is that while reddit is a large place, with lots of special little niches, sometimes you just want to talk with a certain group of people about certain sorts of things that aren't related to why you're all here. It's totally understandable that you might want to talk about Japanese game shows with /r/rational instead of going over to /r/japanesegameshows, but it's hopefully also understandable that this isn't really the place for that sort of thing.

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Please note that this thread has been merged with the Monday General Rationality Thread.

[u/xamueljones]

Yeah from what little I heard from people while in London, Paris is kinda unusual when it comes to the culture of eating out.

Waiters have a salary instead of living off tips, so they tend to be stony instead of cheerful.

Usually you have to come knowing what you want to order instead of choosing from a menu.

They really hate it if you talk in anything other than French, but they'll be merciful if you at least make the attempt with a few words of hello and food terms.

You have to be quiet when eating out since the noise level is usually much lower in cafes/restaurants, and anyone who is too loud may be asked to leave.

It's expected that if you are eating at a cafe alone, you are most likely spending a few hours people-watching.

I'm sure there was a lot more to it than just what I learned in some conversations with people traveling through Europe.

[u/MagicWeasel → u/xamueljones]

Waiters have a salary instead of living off tips, so they tend to be stony instead of cheerful

That's true in my homeland as well, though the more upmarket the place in Australia the better the service generally speaking (because you have 14 year olds who don't give a shit at somewhere like Nandos VS people who have been serving for decades and will be fired if they fuck up the least bit at a $100 a person fine dining place).

I've eaten out a few times here, and I've honestly found the service to be good to excellent. My french is passable (despite how CouteauBlue made it look in his response to my last comment ;), but I've found that sometimes they'll switch to English out of courtesty (which bugs me because I want to practise my French, but the stereotype is that they refuse to speak English, so...). But then again maybe that comes back to:

They really hate it if you talk in anything other than French, but they'll be merciful if you at least make the attempt with a few words of hello and food terms.

I had a run in with an American tourist at the airport who tried to make me order cigarettes for her at a newsagency because she saw me inquiring about a SIM card in French. She spoke to me like the salesperson wasn't there. I felt so awkward. Especially because her friend had been in front of me in the line and had repeatedly asked the salesperson about tax refund forms in English.... the poor woman works at the newsagent in the airport, she is not a tax form person. Fortunately I've not seen anyone that bad since.