You and an old friend catch up at a restaurant. When the bill comes, how do you make sure the poor waiter takes your card?
I usually whisper, "I'll flip every table in this joint if you don't take my card, including the one with that child at it", and while it has a 100% success rate, I can't help but feel terrible about it, later. What are some alternatives?
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I feel I am too european to understand this; We pay before eating.
Europe must be in a bad neighborhood
I bet all the silverware is chained down, too.
Where in Europe is this? I’ve never paid before eating at a restaurant anywhere I’ve traveled in Europe. You pay at the end when the bill comes except at places where you order at a counter, same as the US.
I've lived in multiple European countries, and visited and dined in many more. Never once paid before a meal. Where in Europe are you from?
Here in Aotearoa it depends where you are eating.
Cafe where you order at the counter = pay first.
Restaurant where someone comes to your table to take your order = pay later.
That's how it is everywhere.
You order everything up front and pay up front? What if you decide you're having a good time and you want to add on another drink?
Honestly asking. Yes, American, but I didn’t experience that in the UK or Germany …
In America, paying before eating usually means the restaurant expects you to dine and dash. Basically, you’re being treated like a criminal.
You usually only see it in fast food (where the pay before eating is mainly to prioritize efficiency) or in really shitty “we probably shouldn’t have stopped here for food” neighborhoods.
That sounds better honestly. I don't think I've ever in my life decided to order anything else after my plate arrived, except of course at a bar where the amount of drinks I'm ordering is variable, but then bars make you pay for drinks up front...
At a bar I usually open a tab and don’t pay for drinks up front