Prague shenanigans

Just returned from five days / four nights in Prague - first visit there and
I had read that most of the waiters and waitresses are a bit of a miserable
bunch. The following to incidents confirm this:

Incident 1 - I was one person in a group of six people. I got a mobile call
from a couple of my friends to say they would meet me in one of those
cafe/bar places in Old Town Square. When I arrived, I sat down next to them
and ordered some beers. The rest of our friends arrived and realising that
there were no more chairs around we moved to another part of the cafe/bar
which had six available chairs/table. With this, one of the waitresses came
over to us and started shouting and saying 'hey, these are my tables - do
you not understand?' Obviously, we didn't so we just stayed sat in our new
place. The waitress spent the next half an hour frowning at us, moaning
about us to her colleagues and generally making us feel very unwelcome.
Anyone care to comment what we did wrong?

Incident 2 - all six of us arrived at a small cafe/bar with plenty of empty
chairs/tables outside. Realising that most of the tables were laid out
either for 3 or 4 places, we went to pull up two more chairs so we could all
sit together. With this, a rather stroppy waiter came out and asked if we'd
made a reservation and if not we'd have to leave. We were quite taken back
as who'd normally make a reservation for a cafe/bar place. As we were
leaving the waiter asked us if we were going to put all the furniture back
where we'd found it. We just smiled and walked to the bar next door, which
was much friendlier. When we left there the original place was practically
dead.

"D.A.L." wrote in message
news:_hsvc.115$Lf4.103@newsfe5-win...
Just returned from five days / four nights in Prague - first visit there
and
I had read that most of the waiters and waitresses are a bit of a
miserable
bunch. The following to incidents confirm this:

Incident 1 - I was one person in a group of six people. I got a mobile
call
from a couple of my friends to say they would meet me in one of those
cafe/bar places in Old Town Square. When I arrived, I sat down next to
them
and ordered some beers. The rest of our friends arrived and realising
that
there were no more chairs around we moved to another part of the cafe/bar
which had six available chairs/table. With this, one of the waitresses
came
over to us and started shouting and saying 'hey, these are my tables - do
you not understand?' Obviously, we didn't so we just stayed sat in our
new
place. The waitress spent the next half an hour frowning at us, moaning
about us to her colleagues and generally making us feel very unwelcome.
Anyone care to comment what we did wrong?

Just a guess, but I'll bet that waiters and waitresses in Prague, as in most
other countries, are assigned sections for which they are responsible. By
removing all the chairs from a table in the waitress' section, you made it
impossible for other patrons to sit there. Though, in Europe, tips are not
the primary income source for waiters, I'd suspect in a touristy place like
the Old Square, you deprived the waitress of a fair amount of money.

Out of curiosity, why did you think it was okay to just sit there after the
waitress asked you not to?


Incident 2 - all six of us arrived at a small cafe/bar with plenty of
empty
chairs/tables outside. Realising that most of the tables were laid out
either for 3 or 4 places, we went to pull up two more chairs so we could
all
sit together. With this, a rather stroppy waiter came out and asked if
we'd
made a reservation and if not we'd have to leave. We were quite taken
back
as who'd normally make a reservation for a cafe/bar place. As we were
leaving the waiter asked us if we were going to put all the furniture back
where we'd found it. We just smiled and walked to the bar next door,
which
was much friendlier. When we left there the original place was
practically
dead.

And perhaps the restaurant had reservations for later. I've often walked
into near empty restaurants here in San Francisco only to be told that no
tables were available because they were all reserved.

Is there a reason why you were intentionally discourteous to this waiter as
well?

In most places in Europe, waiting tables is true profession, as opposed to
the US, where it is usually an interim low-wage job for college students,
etc. If you treat European waiters with the same respect you afford any
profession, you'll have a much better experience in restaurants and cafes.

D.A.L. wrote:

Anyone care to comment what we did wrong?

Yes. You stopped for a drink in a tourist area. Around the world you
get ****ty service in places overrun with tourists, because good service
or bad, you're not coming back, and there are always more where you came
from.

joan
--
Joan McGalliard, UK http://www.mcgalliard.org

D.A.L. wrote:

Just returned from five days / four nights in Prague - first visit there and
I had read that most of the waiters and waitresses are a bit of a miserable
bunch. The following to incidents confirm this:

Incident 1 - I was one person in a group of six people. I got a mobile call
from a couple of my friends to say they would meet me in one of those
cafe/bar places in Old Town Square. When I arrived, I sat down next to them
and ordered some beers. The rest of our friends arrived and realising that
there were no more chairs around we moved to another part of the cafe/bar
which had six available chairs/table. With this, one of the waitresses came
over to us and started shouting and saying 'hey, these are my tables - do
you not understand?' Obviously, we didn't so we just stayed sat in our new
place. The waitress spent the next half an hour frowning at us, moaning
about us to her colleagues and generally making us feel very unwelcome.
Anyone care to comment what we did wrong?

Did you pay for your drinks before you moved? Or tell her you wanted to
move, and why? I don't suppose you left a tip for the original waitress
before moving - maybe your changing tables meant her "successor" would
collect whatever the service percentage was for the entire bill.


Incident 2 - all six of us arrived at a small cafe/bar with plenty of empty
chairs/tables outside. Realising that most of the tables were laid out
either for 3 or 4 places, we went to pull up two more chairs so we could all
sit together. With this, a rather stroppy waiter came out and asked if we'd
made a reservation and if not we'd have to leave. We were quite taken back
as who'd normally make a reservation for a cafe/bar place.

Depends upon where it is - I'm sure it's quite common in many places.

As we were
leaving the waiter asked us if we were going to put all the furniture back
where we'd found it. We just smiled and walked to the bar next door, which
was much friendlier. When we left there the original place was practically
dead.

You and your friends sound like the kind who give American tourists such
a bad reputation!

I'll assume you are American, simply because I am. The situation is no
different in the US. Waiters/waiteresses are assigned an area. If you
spend time in that area, and make orders, you should tip that person before
you leave. At a minimum, you should at least ask- some communication
(especially when different cultures are concerned) can go a long way.
Perhaps they were unable to adequately express the local mores in your
language, at least to your satisfaction. Some patience and communication is
in order.
A big tip would help, too.
You are the face of America (your country here...). When traveling, use
some respect and decorum. I can handle the political differences between
the different cultures, but when you're branded as rude, even though it
might not be your fault, it's hard to overcome.
geotek
"D.A.L." wrote in message
news:_hsvc.115$Lf4.103@newsfe5-win...
Just returned from five days / four nights in Prague - first visit there
and
I had read that most of the waiters and waitresses are a bit of a
miserable
bunch. The following to incidents confirm this:

Incident 1 - I was one person in a group of six people. I got a mobile
call
from a couple of my friends to say they would meet me in one of those
cafe/bar places in Old Town Square. When I arrived, I sat down next to
them
and ordered some beers. The rest of our friends arrived and realising
that
there were no more chairs around we moved to another part of the cafe/bar
which had six available chairs/table. With this, one of the waitresses
came
over to us and started shouting and saying 'hey, these are my tables - do
you not understand?' Obviously, we didn't so we just stayed sat in our
new
place. The waitress spent the next half an hour frowning at us, moaning
about us to her colleagues and generally making us feel very unwelcome.
Anyone care to comment what we did wrong?

Incident 2 - all six of us arrived at a small cafe/bar with plenty of
empty
chairs/tables outside. Realising that most of the tables were laid out
either for 3 or 4 places, we went to pull up two more chairs so we could
all
sit together. With this, a rather stroppy waiter came out and asked if
we'd
made a reservation and if not we'd have to leave. We were quite taken
back
as who'd normally make a reservation for a cafe/bar place. As we were
leaving the waiter asked us if we were going to put all the furniture back
where we'd found it. We just smiled and walked to the bar next door,
which
was much friendlier. When we left there the original place was
practically
dead.

geotek schrieb:

I'll assume you are American, simply because I am. The situation is no
different in the US. Waiters/waiteresses are assigned an area. If you
spend time in that area, and make orders, you should tip that person before
you leave. At a minimum, you should at least ask- some communication
(especially when different cultures are concerned) can go a long way.
Perhaps they were unable to adequately express the local mores in your
language, at least to your satisfaction. Some patience and communication is
in order.
A big tip would help, too.
You are the face of America (your country here...). When traveling, use
some respect and decorum. I can handle the political differences between
the different cultures, but when you're branded as rude, even though it
might not be your fault, it's hard to overcome.
geotek

Obviously, DAL has never worked as a waiter.

T.

"D.A.L." wrote in message
news:_hsvc.115$Lf4.103@newsfe5-win...
Just returned from five days / four nights in Prague - first visit there
and
I had read that most of the waiters and waitresses are a bit of a
miserable
bunch. The following to incidents confirm this:

Incident 1 - I was one person in a group of six people. I got a mobile
call
from a couple of my friends to say they would meet me in one of those
cafe/bar places in Old Town Square. When I arrived, I sat down next to
them
and ordered some beers. The rest of our friends arrived and realising
that
there were no more chairs around we moved to another part of the cafe/bar
which had six available chairs/table. With this, one of the waitresses
came
over to us and started shouting and saying 'hey, these are my tables - do
you not understand?' Obviously, we didn't so we just stayed sat in our
new
place. The waitress spent the next half an hour frowning at us, moaning
about us to her colleagues and generally making us feel very unwelcome.
Anyone care to comment what we did wrong?

Incident 2 - all six of us arrived at a small cafe/bar with plenty of
empty
chairs/tables outside. Realising that most of the tables were laid out
either for 3 or 4 places, we went to pull up two more chairs so we could
all
sit together. With this, a rather stroppy waiter came out and asked if
we'd
made a reservation and if not we'd have to leave. We were quite taken
back
as who'd normally make a reservation for a cafe/bar place. As we were
leaving the waiter asked us if we were going to put all the furniture back
where we'd found it. We just smiled and walked to the bar next door,
which
was much friendlier. When we left there the original place was
practically
dead.

"D.A.L." wrote in message
news:_hsvc.115$Lf4.103@newsfe5-win...
Just returned from five days / four nights in Prague - first visit there
and
I had read that most of the waiters and waitresses are a bit of a
miserable
bunch. The following to incidents confirm this:

Incident 1 - I was one person in a group of six people. I got a mobile
call
from a couple of my friends to say they would meet me in one of those
cafe/bar places in Old Town Square. When I arrived, I sat down next to
them
and ordered some beers. The rest of our friends arrived and realising
that
there were no more chairs around we moved to another part of the cafe/bar
which had six available chairs/table. With this, one of the waitresses
came
over to us and started shouting and saying 'hey, these are my tables - do
you not understand?' Obviously, we didn't so we just stayed sat in our
new
place. The waitress spent the next half an hour frowning at us, moaning
about us to her colleagues and generally making us feel very unwelcome.
Anyone care to comment what we did wrong?

Hazarding a guess - if the waitress relies on tips or commission, having
people who have already bought drinks from a colleague move into her
allocated area cuts her earning potential.


Incident 2 - all six of us arrived at a small cafe/bar with plenty of
empty
chairs/tables outside. Realising that most of the tables were laid out
either for 3 or 4 places, we went to pull up two more chairs so we could
all
sit together. With this, a rather stroppy waiter came out and asked if
we'd
made a reservation and if not we'd have to leave. We were quite taken
back
as who'd normally make a reservation for a cafe/bar place

I rather suspect that this may have something to do with the unfortunate
reputation we have in Prague as ****-artists. This migt especially worry
them if all of you were men.

Alan Harrison

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:

You and your friends sound like the kind who give American tourists such
a bad reputation!

This guy is a friggin' jerk, Evelyn...he'd be treated the same *anywhere* in
the world, including here in the States....

--
Best
Greg