Oops, we upset the waitress...!
There's always tons of surreal and surprising incidents in Armenia, not the least of which with members of the "service community", i.e., waiters, waitresses, public servants, anyone dealing with a member of the general public but not quite knowing how to deal with people... etc. Often they end up being unbelievable or simply amusing, as the past few entries on "conversations with the waiter" have shown.
Anyway, I remembered an incident when I went for lunch somewhere today, something that happened there maybe four years ago. My mom, brother and I had gone for a meal, and my brother had ordered a cheeseburger. It came, a nice, big, fat bun, which my brother bit into... only to discover that it had... well, cheese. Only. Just cheese.
So, we call the waitress, and inquire whether perhaps they had forgotten something. Quizzically, the waitress asks us what we mean. Well, we elaborate, burgers tend to contain meat. "Ah", comes the explanation, "This is a cheeseburger. 'Cheese', anglerenoum, 'panir' e nshanakoum". Is that right, so "cheese" is English for "panir", eh ? Will wonders never cease...
Well, today, at that same place, the tables were quite turned. I had gone with a couple of friends, and, Armenians that we are, there was a struggle as to who was to pay for the bill after the meal. The waitress brought that little booklet to me, and I immediately put in the money and was about to quickly pass it back (it's all in the speed, folks, that's the number one rule if you want to pay for a meal).
My tactical position was disadvantageous, however, as my friend repeatedly blocked my return of the booklet, and this continued for a good ten or twenty seconds until the waitress made SUCH a face - of disgust, anger, irritation, vexation - and she went away in a huff! She really did, this was something I had never seen before, and it was quite surprising actually. I mean, the face she made was so... I don't know. I was afraid it would stick on her!
Well, my friend had his way; we split the bill. The waitress returned shortly thereafter, and her face was as it was before. So, I guess everything is back to as normal as it could be around here.
Anyway, I remembered an incident when I went for lunch somewhere today, something that happened there maybe four years ago. My mom, brother and I had gone for a meal, and my brother had ordered a cheeseburger. It came, a nice, big, fat bun, which my brother bit into... only to discover that it had... well, cheese. Only. Just cheese.
So, we call the waitress, and inquire whether perhaps they had forgotten something. Quizzically, the waitress asks us what we mean. Well, we elaborate, burgers tend to contain meat. "Ah", comes the explanation, "This is a cheeseburger. 'Cheese', anglerenoum, 'panir' e nshanakoum". Is that right, so "cheese" is English for "panir", eh ? Will wonders never cease...
Well, today, at that same place, the tables were quite turned. I had gone with a couple of friends, and, Armenians that we are, there was a struggle as to who was to pay for the bill after the meal. The waitress brought that little booklet to me, and I immediately put in the money and was about to quickly pass it back (it's all in the speed, folks, that's the number one rule if you want to pay for a meal).
My tactical position was disadvantageous, however, as my friend repeatedly blocked my return of the booklet, and this continued for a good ten or twenty seconds until the waitress made SUCH a face - of disgust, anger, irritation, vexation - and she went away in a huff! She really did, this was something I had never seen before, and it was quite surprising actually. I mean, the face she made was so... I don't know. I was afraid it would stick on her!
Well, my friend had his way; we split the bill. The waitress returned shortly thereafter, and her face was as it was before. So, I guess everything is back to as normal as it could be around here.
posted by Nareg at 9:50 PM
9 Comments:
I had a very similar experience at a place in Vanadzor- except I had ordered a hamburger instead of a cheeseburger from the menu. The table ordered a total of 2 hamburgers and 3 cheeseburgers, and mine came with cheese. I tried to trade with whatever neighbor got my cheeseless hamburger only to find that they ALL had cheese. Furthermore, this "hamburger" was just that- a ham sandwich.
I told the waiter that I had ordered a hamburger, not a cheeseburger- and that mine has cheese in it- to which he responded "hamburger comes with cheese!" I ended up bursting out laughing in his face. I said well then what's the difference between hamburger and cheeseburger if they all come with cheese, and he said "I don't know."
We got the manager and asked him and he said that the difference is cheeseburgers come with cheese and that hamburgers come with a smaller amount of cheese. This was just the highlight of a series of problems, including an order of fries ended up costing 18 US dollars (because 5 people shared it they multiplied the price by 5) and a waiter making fun of one of the people in my group's ability to speak Armenian after he had a complaint about- unsurprisingly- a problem with his food as well.
Diasporans seem to bring everything to Armenia- so I've been wondering when are they going to open a hospitality school?
what you mean dear Poul by saying diasporans seem to bring everything to Armenia?
Anonymous and Paul,
Let's not make it ugly. Both sides have issues.
Diasporans are right to hold locals to high standards. Locals will only benefit in terms of tourism and how they treat each other. There is a lack of civility in Armenia that makes everbody's life difficult. From standing in lines (or trying to create a line to stand in) to ordering a burger, one encounters rudeness. It does not cost a local anything to be polite and smile. It seems like the poor locals are always sad (somewhat understandable) and the rich ones are angry (not understandable). I knew plenty of Armenians who survived the genocide (both poor and rich) and they still smiled, were warm and treated strangers (and especially fellow Armenians) with the utmost respect and courtesy. Locals have to learn that all Diasporans are not rich and many make the pilgrimage to Armenia at great personal expense. They must also realize how difficult it is to maintain language in the Diaspora and appreciate that after such a long time, Diasporans are still willing to visit Armenia. Even on a purely self-interested (cynical) level, locals should treat Diasporans better.
On the other hand, Diasporans should not expect to be welcomed like liberating heros and receive warm pats on the back for being of Armenian descent. Everybody in Armenia is Armenian and it is the locals who have to fight the wars, pay the taxes and live day-to-day with all of the issues mentioned above.
Armenia belongs to all Armenians. Live and let live.
People, how hard is it to type in a name? Now we have 2 Anonymous'. Type in SOMETHING, anything. Type in 123, or abc, or gg or madonna, but give us something to call you!!
OK, back to the topic. Yes. Please keep things civil. That's all, thanks! :-)
By diasporans bring everything I should have reworded it- but I meant in the numerous outside assistance organizations and ideas they bring to Armenia. There's tree project, the numerous volunteer organizations, and all the western ideas they bring. Hospitality service and techniques are clearly not Armenia's forte', therefore I do not expect anyone from within it to bring the proper knowledge necessary to improve it to Armenia. Sure parts of it involve common curtosy and common sense (or what would would think is common sense, not so common in restaurants there!) but we don't have hospitality schools here in America to teach common sense. There's a lot of technique to it, and so it seems like just another example of something the diaspora can bring to Armenia to improve it. I didn't mean it in a "diaspora is the best" kind of a way, just that in this particular issue the diaspora does have the best knowledge and expertise and will probably have to be the ones to enact a marked change in how this is done in Armenia.
Maybe I should change my idea of opening a kindergarten to opening an etiquete (sp?) school....
I would LOOOOOVE to spend my days teaching future customer service personnel how to be polite... even if they don't smile. Imagine, "NO!! you can't roll your eyes at the customer... try it again" --- hahaha... omg.. how fun!
Shoosh, do both, for Heaven's sake!
I'm serious. Get a place, get the funding (I'm making it sound easy, but, in reality, it isn't terribly difficult, either), have your kindergarten/day-care centre in the day, and do evening classes for the grown-ups.
I'm serious! :-)
Shooosh I hope you're not joking!! Sounds like a great idea. Like said above though, a huge effort and work. Pick your passion Shooosh and go for it. Good luck :)
Shoosh!
Learning not to roll your eyes should start from the kindergarden age, so it might be a good idea to combine a kindergarden and etiquette school; whether those kids will later work in the service sector or not, doesn't really matter.
Drop me a line when you start, I wanna be there to see it :)
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