my changing quality standards

ever since coming to china my standard for food quality and service at restaurants has changed dramatically. maybe because you never tip the waitress and when you want service you just yell at the workers. literally, if we want someone to come to our table we just yell "fu yuan" and someone will yell back acknowledging us and then come to the table. at first it was strange, but now i love it. i sometimes imagine myself sitting at applebees or fridays and yelling for my waitress - i probably wouldn't get any service and someone would spit in my chicken fingers.

anyway, i was thinking about how in america when you get weird flavored food or there is a hair in it, it's standard procedure to get another entree or get your food for free. like one time i went to eat at logan's in holland, mi. and i got a burger where there was mold all over the bottom bun. i was one bite away from eating it (thanks to rach for saving me on that one). the waiter was grossed out and the manager apologized and comped the burger. if that happened here, nothing would be replaced or comped. for my birthday we went to pizza hut and ordered a hawaiian pizza. when we started eating it, we tasted a very strong seafood flavor - yuck!!! i tasted some bits of crab and spicy seaweed junk in my pizza, so i decided to take some action and tell the manager. he was not phased at all by my complaint. in fact he said, "yeah, i know. we use the same knives and pans to cut the pizzas." what the heck? can someone say "cross contamination"? that evening was also spent in the w.c. as my body expelled the crummy pizza. then i went to kfc the next day and there was a hair in my drink and in my french fries. holy cow, a terrible string of dining experiences.

imagine this beauty of a pizza mixed with the pizza you really wanted to eat.


needless to say, if i was in america i would have complained up a storm and expected a refund. but in china, i just kinda roll with it. man, i've gotten lame.