一個朋友的朋友與他的好友在美國紐約市小意大利區吃晚飯。兩個都是來自香港的遊客，由於言語上的誤會而與侍應生發生了一些爭執。結賬時收銀員在賬單上無端加多了百份之廿五的服務費，他們感到不合理，所以拒絕付款。
在爭持不下時，餐館致電附近的警局召來了一名警員。兩個香港人以為有了執法人員的介入，事情或可完滿解決。誰料那個警員不管青紅皂白，動手就打人，還說在美國是不容許吃「霸王餐」的。此情此境猶如秀才遇着兵，有理說不清。兩人不想堅持下去，賬單來了照付如儀，吃盡眼前虧。
我對這件事有兩種猜測：那個”警員”可能是職業打手喬裝的，和餐館同流合污去欺負遊客。這類事故在龍蛇混雜的大城市是屢見不鮮的，人生路不熟的遊客不可隨意逞強，才可避免吃虧。另一種猜測是：該兩名顧客可能對侍應生有太多要求，使他應付得手忙腳亂；既不可下逐客令，唯有多收服務費作補償。在香港上餐館大搖大擺的習慣在外地是行不通的，遊客必須入鄉隨俗。
另一朋友在一個漫天風雪的晚上由香港飛抵紐約甘迺迪機場。他召了一輛出租汽車把他送到預訂的酒店去。在到達目的地時，計程儀顯示車資一共是八十元。他付了一張一百元紙幣之後就連忙去照顧自己的行李，還一心打算以餘額當作司機的小費。誰料那個無良司機說他只付了十元，非補足不可。朋友當然不同意，但幾經辯解之後亦無效，只有照付如儀，避免了一場可能使自己吃虧的爭執。
這類事情在任何大城市都會發生，外來旅客不要太過堅持己見，吃點小虧了事才算聰明。常道：好漢不吃眼前虧！
2010/6/3日 (2010/7/7 現代日報)
David,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such interesting story. I feel bad for your friend who had been treated unfairly in US. It is very true that clear communication is important and patience is the first MUST to avoid unnecessary troubles.
This is what happened to my close friends or myself in recent years that I can recall:
1) Few years ago, a friend of mine was on their way back from vacation. In the lounge of LA airport, they purposely picked a “safe spot” with a planter barrier behind their seats, waiting for their return flight. While he stepped away to washroom, a few young black teens were playing in front of their kids to distract their attention. In a minute or two, by the time those black teens were gone, so were two of their luggage.
2) Also a few years back, with his girl friend, a young Italian co-worker drove his Honda Civic to New York for a long weekend shopping. On the second day, he found his car was virtually resting on four concrete blocks in the parking lot just outside the mall where he stopped for shopping in less than two hours.
3) Last October, as a group of four couples, we were in Shanghai 新天地 having lunch in 鼎泰豐 . During the lunch, one of the ladies needed to go to washroom. For some reasons, there was no washroom available in the restaurant (may be all full or out of order) that she had to use the public one in the mall. An hour later when we checked out, she found her handbag was gone. She then realised that she had left it in the washroom. She immediately went back but, as expected, could not find anything. In her extreme desperation, the restaurant suggested us the only hope was to check with the Lost and Found in the Building Management office. After a few questions of identify check, to her surprise, the handbag was kept in good condition inside a transparent plastic bag. All the documents, cards and money were remarkably left untouched.
Apart from those incidents, there are also good stories happened in US and bad ones in China. This said, it all depends where you are and under what circumstances.
Erik
Eric:
ReplyDeleteThis is what I always say, "Crows are black the world over." Never say this country is good, and that country is evil.
Joe