I've put a polll up over in the sidebar. Please take a second to pick an answer.
I hate it when I walk down the street past the restaurants and waiters or people hired specifically for the purpose try to stop you. They are, of course, trying to get you to eat at their place.
Even worse is when you stop to read a menu and you are accosted and the waiter either trys to explain everything on the menu to you or, shudder, actually starts reading the thing out loud to you! Most of the time this turns me off so badly I just walk away from the restaurant.
I'm a somewhat intelligent, literate adult. I can make up my own mind where I may want to eat and I can certainly read a menu without any outside interference.
So what do you think?
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13 comments:
I'm with you--it usually makes me walk away! It's especially bad in the area around Fayne's & Bamboo--both places we rarely eat at.
That is just as bad as trying to buy a car and having a salesman, not leave you alone so you can look peacefully. I hate someone right on my backside the whole time you are looking. When I am ready to buy or order or what ever, I will let you know!
We don't eat in town much, but when we do, I watch the waiter at one of the restaurants we eat at most often - they are expected by the boss to be out there in the street chatting up potential customers. But people who are lingering over the menu immediately leave when approached, so I think they lose more business than they gain. I know when I'm just browsing, with nothing special in mind, either shopping or thinking about eating - if approached, I feel pressured so I just leave. Lost sales. Give me a chance to browse and ponder - then I might be inspired to buy.
I would have liked another option on your poll, "It doesn't bother me". Not the same as "I like it" or "No opinion". I smile, say no thanks or if I am curious, ask what their specials are. For me it's not intrusive or annoying, it's just part of the game. I suspect with all the competition, they've got to get people's attention somehow and in times of financial crisis they must feel like they have to do SOMETHING rather than just stand in front of an empty restaurant. So, for me, "it doesn't bother me".
jamqueen, lisa and miguel: well said
cancuncanuck: good point. I tried to edit the poll to add that option but once created a poll is uneditable. Darn.
13 years ago, my husband and I were in Downtown Cancun. We were trying to find a restaurant that we had been to a few years earlier. This guy approached us with a menu and it ended up being the restaurant we had in mind. We became friends and a couple of years later, we became the padrinos of his third child. It has been a wonderful experience. The mexicans work very hard and will do what they have to to provide for their families. With most tourists there is a language barrier...just remember...we are in their country.
I'm with CancunCanuck - should have been the additional option - actually works instead of NO Opinion which is what I selected to show my willingness to participate. ;-)
My encounters with street side restaurant hawkers has been pretty sane - not like the blanket salesmen on the beach or the car window washers on the street - now those people irritate me.
I, too would choose to say it doesn't bother me... same as the folks hawking their good from a shop. I MAY ask questions, or I may say, "No, Gracias."
Linda
aka Isla Chica
sam and bob: what? although you had a wonderful experience and developed a lasting relationship with somebody as a result of them approaching you, it has nothing to do with remembering that we are in "their" country. the point of this post is harrassment, not cultural differences. language barrier? i have never been approached by a vendor speaking to me in Spanish. It is always English. Enlighten me.
calypso: yes, yes, i wish i had put another option in. what is especially annoying about beach vendors is that they will approach you when they first walk by and again when they walk down the beach in the opposite direction.
anonymous: maybe I'm just a curmudgeon, but I find it extremely annoying to be constantly harrassed as I am just trying to get from one place to another. I see no reason what so ever to even acknowledge that vendors have yelled something at me. Like "Hey, Mr Whiskers!" is going to entice me into their store!
I also would say,'It doesn't bother me in the least..My take on that situation is" Here is another human trying to get by,, Wants to talk to me,, and could be a future friend working in a place I may want to eat at",, in any case I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
am fine with it. But, I am the person who likes chatting up beggars.
Isla Gringo,
A few comments above I think you hit the nail on the head. It IS a cultural thing! I am going with the "it doesn't bother me"(anymore) group. It used to bug me just the way you describe. But just a few posts ago you told us there are no tourists on Isla. I imagine there is pressure on the open restaurants to suck in what customers they can, by begging or harrassing or whatever means possible. I will admit that I probably will NOT choose the restaurant where the waiters tried to drag me in off the street, I will choose the next one down...
I don't like to be followed around in a store either, it makes me feel like they think I am a shoplifter. However they feel they are not giving you good service if they aren't on you like white on rice. So whaddya' gonna do?
Its part of the Isla culture. I used to get upset when the shop salesmen would stop me. It REALLY annoyed me when they would ask, "Where's your husband? Are you married? Where are you staying?" Now I just laugh and say no gracias! I am so happy to be on the island that none of that bothers me any more.
If I could only learn to do that in the US, I'd have it made! Thanks for your blog. It is awesome.
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