… but every rule has an exception.
Last week, I returned to my neighborhood wood shop. The day before, I’d bought a few planks to make legs for a bookshelf. My valiant attempt at sawing them into the correct length had ended in blood, sawdust, and crooked bookshelf legs.
So, I went back to the wood shop, to ask if they could cut the wood for me.
“WHY did you try this yourself!”
Errr… I don’t know.
“Do you have the right tools for this?”
Well, I had a hand saw… “A HANDSAW! You had no tools, so why even try?”
Confused, I looked down at the chubby little man with stubby fingers and splintered fingernails. Was he screaming at me out of actual anger, or was he simply trying to drive home a point about the importance of safety?
Turns out, he was actually angry with me.
I stood by the buzzsaw, passing through states of shock, annoyance, and finally amusement as the furious dwarf cut 24 pieces of wood, slamming each one down on the table in front of me. I mean, slamming every single one down, as hard as he could. When he was finally done, I stacked them up into a neat 6×4 pile and asked him to tape them up.
He grabbed his tape dispenser and started binding the wood, eyes locked with mine the entire time. But before he could finish, the tape ran out. A rational person, in control of their emotions, would simply refill the dispenser. This lunatic, though, threw it with all his might against the wall. I couldn’t believe it and stood by silently, completely in awe.
After he’d collected himself again, he charged me €3, even writing the sum down on a little receipt. I paid him and left.
Maybe the guy was just having a bad day. Maybe he hated morons who lack common sense and cut wood themselves with a hand saw. Maybe years ago, a brown-haired 30-something American raped and killed his only daughter. I have no idea, but I’m pretty sure I’ll never go back to that store.
Valencia
20°
Davide wrote,
Well, I won’t add any comment to this, but if I would asked for the definition of friendly people, I would describe the Irish, not the Spaniards…
PS: Don’t get me wrong, I love Spain and I love Spaniards!
Link | March 13th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
islatur wrote,
what store?
I cut my own wood too.
Link | March 13th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
islatur wrote,
BTW i agree with Davide, in my humble opinion spaniards are not the sharpest knives in the friendly world cabinet.
but im south american, we are just too friendly.
Link | March 13th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
VaRy wrote,
I’m spanish and it happened to me some times in all kind of stores/pubs/restaurants, so don’t worry it’s not because of you, i don’t understand why these people are so rude with the people that are going to pay him… He seems not to need your money so next time, just say “bye”, go out of the store with nothing and go to another one.
Link | March 13th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Andreas wrote,
Probably some kind of Handwerkerehre: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handwerkerehre
You offended him not by doing it yourself but by failing to do it the right way
Link | March 16th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Kirill wrote,
Spanish people are NOT friendly, they seem to hate you for coming to their country (i wasn’t going to stay longer than a week anyway and i wasn’t misbehaving ). Trying to find a good place to eat I ended up buying stuff from a supermarket because anywhere i went waiters acted inadequately, shouting and being generally rude. In a shop I got shouted at for trying a pair of shoes on.
You say Super-friendly? I say i’m never coming back to this country.
Link | August 1st, 2009 at 10:38 pm
valencia blog wrote,
Kirill,
you def. should scratch Germany from you future travel plans as well.
Anyone share Kirill’s opinion.
Link | August 2nd, 2009 at 8:27 am
Graham wrote,
This has always amazed me about certain people who work in shops in Spain. However you shouldn’t tar everyone with the same brush as a result. I find waiters in Valencia particularly useless for example but those in Asturias are fantastic.
However from a customer retention point of view this gives anyone setting up a business in Spain and doing a good job a huge advantage. The rest of the World knows that how you treat a customer will directly impact on the return visits and therefore the lifetime value of that customer. Spain might eventually catch on but don’t expect it to happen any day soon.
Link | August 2nd, 2009 at 8:43 am
Delfin wrote,
That’s one of the many charms about the Spanish people: they think nothing of scolding or reprimanding you!
I don’t think it necessarily has anything to with being friendly or unfriendly; they just have no qualms about blurting out to you, the paying customer (or colleague or friend or stranger seated near you at sporting event, etc.) how mistaken you are. There is no filter; they’re simply saying what they think, assuming they are doing you a favor, whereas in many other cultures we may be thinking those things, but would consider it impolite to vocalize them.
I love Spain and Spaniards but I’ve had this happen to me hundreds of times there, and although at first it shocked me, I have come to find it pretty amusing…..so I am getting quite a chuckle about the wood shop story! Nonetheless I do agree with Graham about customer retention!
Link | August 2nd, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Kirill wrote,
Actually I came up with the same idea as Graham suggested when I was in Spain. This is so obvious that if you make a little effort to be nice to people they will leave their money there and will come back again soon. How do you like a story when we sat down at a table and wanted to move it a bit so as not to sit too close to another table and… a waiter erupted his anger at us (we were not supposed to move anything). I try not to believe stereotypes but when negative things happen 7 days out of 7 it’s not a stereotype, it’s a proven fact.
The sad thing here is that i had 2 choices. No 1 was to go to Spain with a travel agency and enjoy some nice hotel in a middle of nowhere, isolated from everything else. But i chose another way and booked a hotel in a downtown trying to learn more about people and culture. I even learnt some very basic Spanish words (Buenos dias, gracias etc). It didn’t help.
Regarding Germany… thanks for advice ))))
Link | August 2nd, 2009 at 10:45 pm
valencia blog wrote,
I think it was bad luck. We go out to eat pretty often and of course do had horrible unfriendly service but I’d say 80% were friendly to super friendly.
What places did you go to, just curious and to know where not to go myself.
Did you go to Mercado Central? I find the people there especially helpful and friendly.
Oh well, damage is done
Link | August 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
Delfin wrote,
Agree with valencia blog´s comment on the Mercado Central. Merchants there are always helpful & friendly!
Link | August 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Kirill wrote,
I was in Alicante, not Valencia. I’ve been to mercado central there and what surprised me was that (again) you cannot touch anything. In my culture it’s ok to touch a fruit to decide whether it is what you want. OK, I can understand this thing. A guy explained to me (very loudly, almost screaming) that i cannot touch a fruit. He had a point there, it’s not too hygienic. Agreed.
In El Buen Comer restaurant i tried moving a table (the outcome is described above).
In a shoe shop (i don’t remember the name) my girlfriend took about 4 pairs of shoes to try on (and i was pretty sure we were going to buy at least 2 because they looked good) but a shop assistant barked at us, grabbed all the shoes and put them all back on the shelves.
Delfin, i don’t think having no filter is ok, it’s rather a mental desease. Being rude and being sincere (or at least honest) are different things. This is why i like scandinavians, they are very straightforward but they won’t offend you just like that.
Don’t get me wrong, i’m not a pessimist kinda guy ))) i like people as far as they don’t push too far
Link | August 3rd, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Kirill wrote,
Oh, forgot to mention that in another place (a pizzeria at Explanada) a waiter literally threw a pizza on our table )))
Link | August 3rd, 2009 at 9:57 pm
PJK wrote,
Oh my god I can not agree more….I have lived in Spain for 8 years now and my now three year olds father and family are Spanish. After numerous very bizzare and totally insane situations with them and them trying to convince me that they are not rude and loud, and actually not the sharpest knives in the box, by reasoning that no it´s actually me who´s insane….Needless to say we are planning our escape back to calmer blighty very soon, god forbid my daughter be educated to be so rude !!!! I like the comments about having no filter on what they say and entirely agree.
Link | August 22nd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
J wrote,
I was in Spain recently and hadn’t heard anything about the people being unfriendly, and expected that the would be. But I was SO disappointed.. they were so unfriendly, unhelpful, and I completely agree with the other posts – they acted like they were mad I was in their country even tho I was spending all kinds of money. I always spoke Spanish but that didn’t help. Lousy to non-existent restaurant service was the biggest irritant. I spend a lot of money when I eat out but once they realized I wasn’t Spanish, forget it. I will not be spending my money there again soon.. what a let down. It really put a damper on a vacation that I really saved up for.
Link | September 12th, 2009 at 4:42 am
valencia blog wrote,
Where are you guys traveling? My Spanish sucks and when I go out to eat everyone is super friendly even they have to listen to my Spanish! ( besides the one or two places where they were not).
You should come to Valencia
!!!
Link | September 14th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Brian wrote,
3 euros including entertainment? A bargain.
Link | September 14th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Brian wrote,
One thing that has to be remembered is that the Spanish language can be very direct at times, at least in comparison to English. Sometimes this can be misconstrued as being impolite. The English, in particular, are obsessed with manners and platitudes which, when not reciprocated, ais taken as rudeness. I’ve lived in Spain for seven years and I find the Spanish no more rude than my British or American counterparts.
Link | September 14th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Alan wrote,
As a foreign student here in Valencia and having been to spain on holidays many times I have to say I find most spanish people extremely friendly and pleasant especially younger people. They’re patient enough when trying to comprehend my abysmal spanish. What does strike me is they are indeed very direct and blunt about things, this i think is sometimes misconstrued for rudeness when in fact as already mentioned its because they have no filter and dont believe in holding their tongue.
This should not ruin your experience of spain or the spanish people.
Link | September 15th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Catbelle wrote,
We speak quite loud, but that doesn’t mean we are angry or offending people, it’s just our way, part of our culture.
Link | May 14th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Emilio wrote,
Being Spanish myself, it saddens me to read all these comments about tourists having bad experiences in my country. Some nasty waiters and sales people in shops should be kept inside the kitchen or the store room so that nobody sees them, lol. However, I think sometimes it’s a matter of cultural differences, and that makes tourists think we’re rude. We do talk really loud(almost like we’re shouting), we gesture with our hands quite a lot, and we say things straightforward(which may sound a bit shocking to English speakers).
However, try learning a little Spanish, don’t hesitate to use it, and you’ll get feedback.
I live in Marbella, a very touristy place, and lots of northern Europeans end up retiring or settling here, I suppose there must be a reason to that(apart from the weather).
Can’t say anything about Valencia, never been, but I’m sure it must be a cool city to visit.
Link | August 4th, 2010 at 10:42 am