Saturday, July 2, 2011

Check Please

By Jeff Abel

WHEN SIX OF US decided to spend our first pausa in a restaurant I learned a valuable lesson about time and culture. After being seated and hearing the menu, we decided only to order primi, no salad no pasta. We were there for what was expected to be a short lunch. We understood that Italian lunches are meals that go well beyond that of our lunch breaks at home. We were only ordering a single plate so we thought we could make it in and out in about an hour. After ordering and eating our delicious lunch, we sat waiting for our check. It became clear to us that were going to have to ask for our check. We did not want to offend anyone but our time was limited and we had to get back to class.

We began to feel uncomfortable. There was a sense that we were insulting the server, almost like we were supposed to order caffe or salad. However, we were full and in all honesty simply didn’t have the time to do so. For me personally I am someone that is usually in a hurry for lunch. I get 30 minutes at my job so I have to make it quick. An hour and a half feels like forever. Eventually the check came, we spoke with the server, paid our bill and even made it back to class on time.

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