2006-04-10
Oh! My left foot... and now my right!
Guilty pleasures�
I�m booked at a client site here in Puerto Rico Tuesday through Thursday. It�s Monday, almost mid-day and I�m writing this poolside. Yeah, I did work almost all day yesterday (again, poolside� wireless is tres chic!) and well into the night, but to NOT be at a client site today and therefore billing for my time seems so� wrong. I�m getting paid to sit here, listen to the tunes piped in (and occasionally, they aren�t bad), and enjoy the scenery (little one� none hold a candle to you.. they don�t even begin to cast a shadow!).
And, to deepen this sense of guilt� I plan on roaming a bit today with my camera. I haven�t gone out with the express desire to shoot in a LONG time. Wonder if I�ll even be able to take a decent shot, it�s been so long.
OK, I�ve confessed. Somehow, that eases the guilt.
I had a semi-sense of d�j� vu here poolside at what they refer to (I�m sure it�s tongue in cheek) as a bar and grill. The only drinks available are canned beer (10 oz per can, no less), soda (poured out of 2 liter bottles) and rum concoctions. A few sandwiches are on the menu (but are often out of the necessary ingredients), a few steaks (OK, I admit they have a very good flank steak� and I can�t believe I�m using the terms �flank steak� and �very good� in the same sentence� maybe I was just uber hungry), and what they call salad (which, depending on what�s ordered, is intended to be added to your sandwich or eaten on the side� it not only contains the same sprinkling of shredded lettuce, single slice of tomato and 3 pickle slices, but looks the exact same too). So� it�s definitely a stretch to call it much more than a street vendor cart sans wheels and with a counter attached for some stools.
Anyway� back to the d�j� vu. One of the hardest things I had to learn to cope with when I lived in Germany was the absence of lines when getting some sort of service at a counter. People would push their way to the front, and while not exactly being rude (but to my sheltered sense of self at the time, had all the appearances of being just that), they would vie for the right to be served next. Quite a change from what I was used to, where customer service was seen as something that was expected, and even required for you to bring your business there. In Germany, it felt as if they were doing you a service just by acknowledging your presence.
And that�s almost what happens here. I haven�t been out and about yet to see if it�s just the attitude here poolside, or if it�s pervasive throughout the culture. It�s not quite the same� once you get their attention, they bend over backwards for you. But, it�s unnerving to be sitting there, obvious even to the 6 year old sitting next to you (I did mention the families on vacation on the plane� didn�t I? they were ALL headed to my hotel, apparently) that you are sitting there because you WANT something. The staff will walk by and I swear, watch first their left toes, then their right, pop into and out of view from underneath them.
I�ll have to try that� staring straight down as I walk. Maybe it�s more entertaining to watch my toes appear and disappear than I�ve imagined� the staff sure seems to find it so.
t85225 at 11:50 a.m.
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