“the regular”, by Sarah Newhall

Building off the person who talked about “the regular” in restaurant settings here, I have another observation about dining out that I have noticed while being abroad. Although I have noticed this more in Sevilla and in other places in Spain than in other places around Europe, I don’t know if this is a coincidence or if it is actually culturally specific to life in Spain. When I go out to eat, it seems as if many of the waiters and waitresses have a general disinterest in whether or not you are happy with the service or the food. It is often difficult to even get their attention when you want to order, need the check, or want another drink because they aren’t looking around the room to see if anyone needs anything. Once I manage to get their attention to ask a question, often times, the servers generally seem very bothered and put out to take the time to talk to me. This more often than not, results in them walking away from me mid-answer so that if I ever did have a follow up question or even wanted to say thank you, that wouldn’t be an option. At least twice when I have inquired about how big a portion was or what the dish came with, the server answered in such a rude way that it discouraged me from asking them anything again. Often, even when I have to ask for silverware or a napkin, I feel like I am putting them out and they are annoyed. Normally, I would feel that because I am making a purchase, paying for the food and service, then I should be able to ask for what I need but since being in Spain, I have become much more timid whenever I am in a dining situation due to the attitudes of the servers. This is not to say that I haven’t had great experiences eating out and that I haven’t had servers who were very attentive and interested in making sure I was happy. The negative experiences here just seem to be building up more here than they do in the United States. I would be interested in whether this is a cultural thing, a reaction to something I am doing, or just a series of unlucky encounters.