In a message dated 1/26/2007 3:30:24 AM Central Standard Time,
relay@THECARTOGRAPHERS.NET writes:
>...> one of my two jobs
>...> involves taking money from customers at Ikea and giving them change
>...> for purchases. There seems to be some sort of cultural difference
>...> here. I get a fair number of tourists, and one thing about them,
>...> regardless of what country they come from really annoys me: The way
>...> they hand me their money. Most Australians will pay by handing the
>...> cashier the money; if the cashier is not ready, the customer will wait
>...> until the cashier puts out their hand and hand it to them. The cashier
>...> will give them change in exactly the same manner. If the customer
>...> needs to count out their money on the counter, the customer will
>...> usually pick it up and hand it to the cashier. Parents teaching their
>...> children to buy things will say "now give the man the money". Aside
>...> from in a rare set of circumstances when this isn't possible, most
>...> Australians who *don't* do it like this are generally otherwise pretty
>...> rude.
>...>
>...> Now, a lot of tourists, from just about anywhere, and regardless of
>...> how well-mannered they are, will put the money down on the counter,
>...> and leave it there. The first few times this happened I left it
>...> there—I thought they were just counting it out, or going to grab some
>...> more money or something. If I try and put my hand for where they're
>...> aiming, they will often change where they're aiming for, so it reaches
>...> the counter. Then, they expect me to hand their change back to them in
>...> their hands (and get offended if I don't—but surely what's good for
>...> the goose is good for the gander). This strikes me, and the others who
>...> work with me, as both a rude and annoying habit. Picking up money all
>...> day long from a metal counter is *not* fun. Being expected to pick up
>...> after someone, and then being expected to treat them otherwise strikes
>...> me as both rude and degrading.
>...>
>...> So really, what I want to know is: Is my assessment of the situation
>...> accurate? Is the correct way to pay for something in most other
>...> countries to put the money on the counter? or is it just something
>...> about being in a foreign country or having been shopping at Ikea that
>...> makes them do that?
>...>
I'm always the customer in such transactions, but I put my money in the other
person's hand rather than put it on the counter. I get my change back in my
hand, too.
stevo