Quote:
Originally Posted by Capsicum
Maybe I'm uninformed about this, but I always thought that the stereotype (at least in the west) was that westerners (Americans especially but also Anglophones more broadly) are blunt, straight-talking in a frank confident in-your-face way, and easterners (Asians etc.) were the ones who were indirect, obsessed with not sticking out, "saving face" etc.
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My understanding is that it depends on the country in Asia.
The Chinese have no problem shoving to get to the front of the line. That's just how it's done. Do that in Japan and I don't think you'll get the same reaction.
Definitely service in Europe is more to the point. How much of that is a language thing (hard to be 'folksy' if you don't have very good command of the language) or a culture thing is up for debate. Also, the expectation in North America is that the tip is commensurate to the level of service, so the incentive is to warm up to the customer. The overly fake-ish niceness (sickly and sweet is how I describe it) galls me more than a professional, but distant attitude.