Atomic Razor

There's an interesting post on Transterrestrial Musings, a rare but not unheralded event, about the difference between American and European eating habits. They also link to this piece on Althouse about French food, which is a pile of complete bollocks, wrapped in a turb and served with grilled bullshit.

I've lived in France, I've worked in Paris. Yes you can indeed have bad, over priced food. You can have bad over priced food in any city in the world. Go into a bar off Times Sqaure and order a patty melt if you don't believe me. Bad Mexican food in Paris? See many mexican's around there? Didn't think so. Newsflash. You can have bad Mexican food in Seattle.

Anyway, I was more interested in some of the things that Rand Simberg didn't like. Namely, the feeling of being held hostage to the wait staff.

The European way, I’m a hostage to the wait staff (or, “the state”) until they deign to provide me with the bill (as an aside, I’ve never understood why it’s called a “check”).

I know which one I like. And it seems like a microcosm of the difference between the US and Europe.

Firstly I find the bill arriving while people are still eating, or we're pontificating if there's a Single Malt on the menu worth my attention, to be unspakably rude.  It suggests that you are not a guest in a customer facing establishment but a cash deposit system that eats.

Second, I get really annoyed with waiters in the US who yank plates out from under your nose the second you lay your forks down for a few minutes.  I've actually had to point out that I was STILL BLOODY EATING!

Finally, the US idea that you get the bill, you hand over the credit card and then leave it on the table is THE DUMBEST SINGLE FRAKKING IDEA IN THE HISTORY OF DUMB IDEAS.

At least check the fecking singniture, please!  Just for me. 

Who knows - it might make people think twice about fraud.