Alright, so one thing that has been a little frustrating is the way you get the check when going out to eat in this country. In America you sit down to eat, a waiter is immediately there to take your order and no sooner then you've gotten your food you also receive the check. This gives you the ability to just go out to eat and leave as soon as you're done with your meal. In Greece everything works the opposite way. You walk in and find your seat, you aren't seated by anyone, then you wait a considerable amount of time until the waiter/waitress see's you and brings you a menu. The food takes a while to come out because it is freshly made and is REALLY good, but it takes longer than an American meal. So, the whole service already takes longer than the typical American night out, but getting the check is the worse. You have to try really hard to get your servers attention and they are usually pretty preoccupied with a conversation with a customer or something along those lines. In other words, eating out is not just and hour long affair, it is at least 2-3 hour long process...at the LEAST!!
While this does frustrate me when I have other things to do, like school work, I decided to look at meals out from the Greek perspective. One of the reasons that there is not a rush on the meal is Greeks look at eating out as a social event, not just going out to get food. In America you will sometimes get the feeling that you are taking up the restaurants space and they would like to rush you out as soon as you're done eating their food. In Greece you never get that feeling because the emphasis is on the socialization not on the actual process of eating. Greece places a very high importance on friends and taking time to enjoy life. This translates into long meals out. They do not put a rush on the socialization process because they feel if you are enjoying a moment there is no reason to end it to soon. When looking at it from the Greek perspective my frustration suddenly recedes and becomes redirected at the American public. Why do we always have to be in such a rush? Where are we if we don't have friends and family? I feel as though we Americans could learn more from the modern Greeks rather than the ancient ones.
While this does frustrate me when I have other things to do, like school work, I decided to look at meals out from the Greek perspective. One of the reasons that there is not a rush on the meal is Greeks look at eating out as a social event, not just going out to get food. In America you will sometimes get the feeling that you are taking up the restaurants space and they would like to rush you out as soon as you're done eating their food. In Greece you never get that feeling because the emphasis is on the socialization not on the actual process of eating. Greece places a very high importance on friends and taking time to enjoy life. This translates into long meals out. They do not put a rush on the socialization process because they feel if you are enjoying a moment there is no reason to end it to soon. When looking at it from the Greek perspective my frustration suddenly recedes and becomes redirected at the American public. Why do we always have to be in such a rush? Where are we if we don't have friends and family? I feel as though we Americans could learn more from the modern Greeks rather than the ancient ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment