I just discovered your blog and and am binge reading it. Hilarious! Thank you!
Anyway it's interesting to contrast tipping norms with doggie-bag norms. In the US, asking for a doggie-bag is normal. My guess is that dining is seen as transactional in the US -- you paid for the food, you own it. But in Europe, at least until recently, asking for a doggie bag was uncouth. You are the guest and the restaurant is the host, and guests do not ask for the leftovers.
But when it comes to tipping it's the other way around. Europeans are all "I already paid you, and now you want more?" While Americans are "you are a guest here -- show your server some appreciation!" People are strange!
Yes, doggie bags!!! What a brilliant observation! You're completely right. I fully embraced the concept in the US and Canada, but I generally don't feel comfortable asking for them here in London, so I end up over-full because I am constitutionally incapable of leaving food go to waste (I blame my parents - and 'the starving children in Africa', of course, who I was constantly counselled to think of). Such a great topic for anthropological analysis! I will have to add it to my very long list - thanks very much for the comment and the idea.
I'm a brit and my wife is from the US and we've each spent a chunk of time in the other's country, so we have a lot of conversations on cultural differences, including the one about what "alright?" means :)
So yes, I'd love to see your take on doggie bags. If you want another idea, I'd like to know why Americans don't think they have accents! Off to buy your book now!
I just discovered your blog and and am binge reading it. Hilarious! Thank you!
Anyway it's interesting to contrast tipping norms with doggie-bag norms. In the US, asking for a doggie-bag is normal. My guess is that dining is seen as transactional in the US -- you paid for the food, you own it. But in Europe, at least until recently, asking for a doggie bag was uncouth. You are the guest and the restaurant is the host, and guests do not ask for the leftovers.
But when it comes to tipping it's the other way around. Europeans are all "I already paid you, and now you want more?" While Americans are "you are a guest here -- show your server some appreciation!" People are strange!
Yes, doggie bags!!! What a brilliant observation! You're completely right. I fully embraced the concept in the US and Canada, but I generally don't feel comfortable asking for them here in London, so I end up over-full because I am constitutionally incapable of leaving food go to waste (I blame my parents - and 'the starving children in Africa', of course, who I was constantly counselled to think of). Such a great topic for anthropological analysis! I will have to add it to my very long list - thanks very much for the comment and the idea.
I'm a brit and my wife is from the US and we've each spent a chunk of time in the other's country, so we have a lot of conversations on cultural differences, including the one about what "alright?" means :)
So yes, I'd love to see your take on doggie bags. If you want another idea, I'd like to know why Americans don't think they have accents! Off to buy your book now!