5 minutes

Between friendliness and privacy

Abdullah Al Qamzi

Abdulla.AlQamzi@emaratalyoum.com

June 13, 2021

Most cafes employ a warm welcome to their customers, and some even reach the stage of knowing the first name to write it on the paper cup, as in the case of the famous “green” American cafe, or just knowing to welcome him and clear his request while he is in the middle of the queue before he reaches the payment, as happens in The famous British "blue" Italian café, and perhaps others.

All this is very good, and better than cafes where you don't find the waiter smiling, but I see that the case may go beyond acceptable limits in some places sometimes.

I once went to a cafe in the morning and the waiter asked me where is your friend?

Why didn't he come with you?

Or in other words, why are you alone today?

Why am I alone?

I don't have a definite answer, I'm alone because I want to be alone at a specific hour!

Or where does my friend require an answer that carries the privacy of that friend? I once answered the question that my friend is in Abu Dhabi, so I asked the waitress, does he work there?

Thus, I opened the door to unnecessary questions, and why should I answer what a friend of mine is doing in Abu Dhabi!

Once a waitress asked me why I didn't buy a sandwich that evening?

I told her that I ate one in the other branch of the café in the morning. I also did not like the question, and why should I say what or where I ate in the morning, evening or night!

The same waitress, when I repeated my answer to her, asked me: Do you live near this place?

I answered no, but this is the closest "blue" cafe to my house.

Another waitress asked me why I go to the other branch?

I also did not find it an appropriate question, this is a private matter, and this waitress would not gain anything if she knew the answer, or if I explained to her my daily routine.

They are trained to welcome customers in this way, and to make customers feel that they are in their other homes, and of course you should never respond to them rudely because they are very polite, but it is an attempt to create a friendly atmosphere with customers, but those responsible for training them must warn them that questions should not go beyond the limits of privacy.

I go to the café to think or plan new things, because the hustle and bustle of the café is better than the quietness of a house if there are children yelling (the café turns into a curse if there are children yelling around the next table)!

Situations:

I went to the “blue” café, and the waiter welcomed me very much and sat me down, and went to get my order, even though the system requires me to stand in line.

×××××××

I bought a book of mental exercises for my son, who rejected it because it is not interactive like an “iPad”, so I decided to do the exercises in the cafe myself so that it would not be in vain. The waitress asked me, Am I studying?

I told her: Yes, to leave.

Six months later, the same waitress asked me a stupid question: How did I study English?!

She reminded me that I was solving exercises in a book, so I told her that this is just a book for fun, and why do I study English when I speak with you in this same language, so she giggled until her face became visible!

• The cafe turns into a curse, if there are children screaming around the next table.

Abdulla.AlQamzi@emaratalyoum.com

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Abdulla.AlQamzi@emaratalyoum.com