Living up to its reputation

BBC News - In Paris, the customer is not always right

Here's a somewhat amusing story of the famously surly service in Paris. (I visited once for a few days in the 1980's, and yes, the service for a foreigner barely able to cope with ordering a steak was pretty crook. But in a way, my travelling companion and I found it kind of amusing that it lived up to its reputation.)

There is a reason offered for this attitude, but I am not really convinced:

The revolution of 1789 has burned the notion of equality deep into the French psyche and a proud Parisian finds it abhorrently degrading to act subserviently...

In America, your waiter comes to your restaurant table to tell you his name is Joe. Here, your waiter expects to be addressed formally as Monsieur, in exactly the same way he will address you.

It is made clear from the start that no-one has the upper hand. The strict code of manners in Paris is a deliberate class-leveller.

Actually, I thought people sometimes complain that service in America was kind of surly in its own way now, with the reliance on tips to make any kind of decent living meaning that waiters will expect a decent tip regardless of the level of service offered.

And of course, I reckon the best service in the world comes from Japan. But commit a crime, and all bets are off. (See previous post.)