Nataly

Yeah... They go around cleaning up the messes all the others left behind! They do it politely and with a smile. They come up with ingenious uses for duct tape (due to lack of funds), and educate the locals by teaching them the proud game of hockey (floor hockey in tropical regions). "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Then I really piss 'em off when I ask for a bottle of Ketchup. Meh.. You can get around that by asking for some tomato coulis "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Tech Sergeant? Are you in the Air Force? In France??? No and no and no... AVN Tech, Canadian Forces, about 10 years ago!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Meh... People do that about all kinds of jobs/activities they consider cool... How many times has anyone told you they're a hard-core skydiver, only to then reveal they've done a 10-minute free-fall tandem jump, with like a static-line to like open up the parachute like SUPER fast, man...!! I had a guy in a bar tell me he was a pilot, and it turned out he was just a tech like me... In fact, I actually outranked him, I found out the next day!! Classic! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

You know, maybe it's because I don't eat out all that much, but I had never really thought about all this stuff... It just seemed obvious to me that most of the time, people order stuff that is similarly priced, and if you're the odd one out (because you ordered the lobster-stuffed-with-foie-gras-stuffed-with-beluga-caviar, or because it's your birthday, etc.), you adjust accordingly by paying more/less. Now, obviously, some people like to overcomplicate things... I mean... Someone mentioned a guy arguing over an extra dollar (when it was being expensed at that!)... That sounds a bit retarded to me... Maybe the most important thing if you don't want to argue over it is to only hang out with like-minded people - that way, your ideas/philosophies are never challenged!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Someone's in lurrrrve.... ETA: It's still an awesome job even if it were somewhere else... The other opportunity I'm interviewing for next week is in Ghana... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Why would I do that??? I moved here - why should they have to adapt their ways to suit me??? Why not? I have to "adapt to their ways" when they come here and don't tip for shit. There are ignorant twats everywhere - doesn't mean I have to be one of them! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

The job is in Morocco "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

As I have already said, the consensus over here is that following up would be "weird". People don't do it, apparently. They said they would let me know at the latest by the end of this week... If I hear nothing this week, I will call first thing on Monday. The waiting is driving me a little bit crazy!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I think most of the time it ends up split roughly evenly, but I do consider it in poor taste not to chuck in more if you had something especially expensive/extravagant. If you eat out with the same group often, it ends up sort of balancing out in the long run - sometimes you cover for someone else and sometimes they pay more, etc. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

It's reassuring, actually... Just goes to show all boobies are appreciated!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Why would I do that??? I moved here - why should they have to adapt their ways to suit me??? Its not about you, I was asking if its never unherad of a group of folks to ask for seperate checks from a waiter/waitress in France... eveidently not... and that's okay, was just asking. Insisting they give separate bills is a bit rude because here it's not the norm, so you're asking a lot... I suppose if you really wanted separate bills, you should really ask before you even order, so you can judge whether it's going to be a massive hassle, and they've got time to cater to your request (as opposed to springing it on them at the end when they haven't kept track of who ordered what). Honestly, I think it makes good sense. If you think about it, it's far easier for each person in a restaurant to keep track of what they ordered compared to putting all that burden on the waiters - it probably even makes the service quicker. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Why would I do that??? I moved here - why should they have to adapt their ways to suit me??? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

That's funny! And she's not wearing anything outrageously low-cut either! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Cool - good link

When dealing with the French, everything is rocket surgery. It's funny... I always thought this was a no-brainer... Buy a salad, pay for a salad - buy a steak and drink loads of wine, fork out for that... But my friends didn't all agree - one person even had the balls to point out I was just being a cheapskate!!! And I'm like "yeah, I'm unemployed at the moment so I ate a cheap salad and I'm not paying for your expensive tastes!" To my surprise, someone else told my friend he was a doofus and since everyone knew I was broke at the moment, I shouldn't have to order salad and shouldn't have to worry about paying either... And then I had to disagree because it's my own damn problem if I can't afford expensive food... And that's when we realised we all had different views on bill-splitting ettiquette... Thought it was interesting. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

No, but what an *excellent* idea "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Either pick the "leave one at a time" option or "other"

Was having a discussion about this with friends... In France, you generally get one bill for the entire group. Sometimes they split everything item by item, but even then, they tend to lump everything together (ie: 7 beers = X Euros)... So what do you consider good bill-paying etiquette in this scenario (ie: 1 bill for entire group)? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

You probably won't ever find a (real) disabled beggar in the US... And if you do, I would question why they are in the streets begging for your money when they could just stay at home and collect the disability benefits you already pay for through taxes, et cetera. Not meant to be a comment on govn't/policies/taxes, just that as far as I know the US looks after its disabled people... And if that's the case, it makes more sense for someone who legitimately can't work to collect benefits than to become a beggar. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

In London, homeless people can pick up a stack of magazines called the Big Issue and sell them. I think they get them free and keep all the profits. I buy those magazines and if I don't have change I give more - no problem. I consider that they are working, and feel they deserve my money... 'Cause selling a magazine is actually bloody hard work. It's harder than asking for money, because no one actually *wants* those crappy magazines!! Otherwise, beggars don't get my cash or my pity. I have worked for my money - why should I give it away to someone who contributes nothing to society?? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I hardly ever drink and I don't like drinking games... I went on an "away-day" (mandatory) trip with work a couple of years ago... I was a good 10 years older than most of my colleagues - when they suggested this game, I flat out refused on the basis that I was certain no one would come up with anything I hadn't done (apart from drugs). That, and I didn't feel like getting unnecessarily wasted. Best part: they all laughed and thought I was kidding - HA! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I'm conflicted between being happy for you, and being sad.

Yep... I was pretty pissed off when I found this out as well... I raised over £2000 for a charity last year, and despite a £400 registration fee on top of this (out of my own pocket), only about £100 IN TOTAL went to my selected charity... I cringe to think how much of *that* then went to salaries, etc., vs how much went to the actual cause. I was annoyed that they didn't even thank me for the money, but when I found out how little they actually got, I could sort of understand... Now I prefer to volunteer my time. At least I can more directly see what comes out of it... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Well, my tits were out, but luckily not my bits!! I'm just hoping tomorrow I can wear pants, 'cause I'm running out of food in the fridge and I don't think ppl here would be cool with me going to do my groceries (half) nekkid!! Oh well... I can think of worse things than sleeping and posting on DZ.com all day!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss