Weetabix!

dave2pvd

ProudDUB wrote: »

You will get a curry sauce of sorts in Indian restaurants

Well that's good to know

ProudDUB

I did say " of sorts". You'll get them in Thai and Vietnamese restaurants too. But they also, will be "of sorts".

I'm not a big fan of "of sorts" to be honest....not when you are craving the ridiculously fake, hybrid, pale imitation "real thing" on your imaginary chipper chips at 3am.

Novella

When I moved to the US (and it was only last summer), I never in a million years thought that I'd miss anything about Ireland. Now my mam sends me Cadbury's Whole Nut bars regularly, I buy Lucozade online from the UK at a crazy price and I think I'd sell a kidney for a bag of chipper chips.

I miss my mam's Sunday roast dinner and watching GAA live with people who understand. The first time my husband (American) saw hurling he was appalled, he said it looked barbaric.

I miss silence. I lived in a house in the middle of the Irish countryside. Now I live in an apartment complex outside of Sacramento. There is always noise - traffic, sirens, people yelling.

I'd like to go shopping and not have to talk to anybody. American stores can really grate on my nerves sometimes.
"Hello and welcome! What are you looking for today?"
"Just browsing."
"We have some new shirts in, come take a look!"
"I'm fine, thank you."
"Okay, well I'll be right here if you need anything."
Five minutes later:
"You finding everything okay?"
"Yes, thank you."
And on and on.

It sounds nice, good customer service etc. and maybe it's just me, but all of that OTT optimism and bubbliness... ugh.

Wasn't expecting to go on that rant! I love America, living here is great but I will always be Irish and my long term plan is absolutely without a doubt to return.

iusedtoknow

Novella wrote: »

"
Five minutes later:
"You finding everything okay?"
"Yes, thank you."
And on and on.

That sort of stuff grinds my gears. Even in the supermarket at the checkout, they ask "did you find everything OK".

The sarcastic irish person in me wants to say "NAAAAAAAWWWWW" in the north cork city accent, but knowing them they'd think I was having a fit and call an ambulance, they are that nice.

However...instead - if i'm feeling mischievous i shake my head and say "no, but it's ok, really" sadly.

My wife on the other hand, at the end of a 48 hour shift/on call and had gone in to get some food snapped and asked..."well i wouldn't be at the checkout if i hadn't". Spanish people are many things - polite is not one of them.

ProudDUB

Ah but you are conditioned to only know the typical Irish sales assistant who has no idea what being a "sales" person really is. So of course, anything else just feels off.

Give me the in your face (oh ok, over the top) US customer service any day of the week, over the typical surly Irish sales assistant who clearly couldn't give a fcuk about your or your shopping experience. They will be all sweetness and nice when you go to pay, will comment about the weather, call you 'pet' and 'chicken' etc, but they will do sweet eff all to help you out while you actually shop.

I have 2 weddings coming up. I was out in Marks and Spencers today looking for some new threads. I must have passed about 4 or 5 staff members doing nothing much, or standing around chatting, while I staggered around for about 20 minutes, with about a dozen outfits over my arm, making it harder and harder to shop. Eventually, I just gave up and headed towards the changing rooms.

If I was in your bog standard Macys, Sears, Gap, Express etc etc, I would have had a member of staff approach me when I picked up the very first item & ask if she could start a changing room for me. She'd whisk away my stuff & hang it neatly in a changing room, leaving me to browse some more in comfort. She would quite possibly....*gasp* suggest cardigans, shoes etc etc to go with the outfits I had already selected. Imagine some one here doing that? They may if you are in a small boutique where they give good one on one service, but forget about it if you are in a larger shop.

The US model may be over the top and annoying if all you want to do is be left alone to browse, but I'd still take it any day of the week, over the Irish model.

Ranting works both ways ya know !

Novella

I would love to be like your wife, iusedtoknow!

Reminds me of being at Target about two weeks ago. The checker asked the lady in front of me if she'd found everything okay. She said no, that she really wanted some Squirt but not in a can, she needed it in a bottle and it had to be refrigerated.

The checker didn't know if they had any so she called a colleague to go look. Meanwhile I'm just standing there wanting to pay for my few items and leave. There's quite a line forming behind me so I'm kind of trapped.

Guy comes back with a bottle of Squirt and the lady takes it.

"This is not cold! I told you, I only like it ice cold!"

My blood is starting to boil. I'm thinking, take it home and put it in the fridge or even the freezer for fifteen minutes, buy some ice, just my god, pay and leave!

The checker apologizes and asks the guy to go see if there is any in the fridge.

Off he goes again.

Wait for a few more minutes.

Then the lady announces that she doesn't really want it anyway so she'll go ahead and pay.

Why ask that kind of question at the check out!? If somebody can't find something, the time to talk about it is not when they're about to leave.

lil_lisa

I'm shocked with you people! Chef has not been mentioned yet. Oh what I would do to substitute Heinz with Chef in every restaurant.

It's amazing the kind of things we enjoy, like Monster Munch and Freddy bars. I honestly think they wouldn't taste as good if they were freely available here too. There's a bit of nostalgia and hype included I think. That being said, and I don't want to get into the Irish/British vs US chocolate debate again, there is a big difference in flavour.

iusedtoknow

lil_lisa wrote: »

I'm shocked with you people! Chef has not been mentioned yet. Oh what I would do to substitute Heinz with Chef in every restaurant.

chef is implied! I actually have a pot of the ketchup in reserve for home made chips.