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#60690 - 08/17/01 08:32 PM 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
Dan the Michigarian Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 02/02/01
Posts: 21
Loc: mi, u.s.
free refills!!!!!!!!!
come on man! fountain pop is the cheapest thing in the whole restaurant! cheaper than napkins!

also, if the door has a handle, then make the door a PULL door and not a push.
duh.


go ahead and jump on my case if you want.
_________________________
(Dan & Abbie may be using this user name, but Dan will usually sign his name)

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#60691 - 08/17/01 09:34 PM Re: 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
Wolf Offline
Member

Registered: 01/25/01
Posts: 1235
Loc: Rockford, IL/Milton, WI, USA
Free refills! Man! I even got charged for refills on iced tea, when it cost enough that I had to take out a mortgage on my gold fillings to pay for it... eek The only place I ever saw glacier sized chunks of ice was in my iced tea. Everything else, not enough to sink a waterbugs yacht. laugh

Wolf (Who tried carrying a few ice cubes with him in his pocket, but someone musta kept on picking it, when I needed them they were gone. rolleyes )

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#60692 - 08/23/01 08:37 AM Re: 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
Brinkie Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 08/06/01
Posts: 4
Loc: Dutch in Madrid
Haha, well if you give away free refills in Holland, families will order one small cup, take a few empty glasses from home and fill them for free for all the lads. Too bad, because one coffee is not enough for me, especially not the café solos here in southern Europe.

What about the mayonaise/ketchup in fastfood restaurants in the US? In Madrid I get them for free and plenty of them. In Holland I have to pay 50 cents (40 pts) for a portion... frown

Brinkie

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#60693 - 08/23/01 09:17 AM Re: 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
Wolf Offline
Member

Registered: 01/25/01
Posts: 1235
Loc: Rockford, IL/Milton, WI, USA
Brinkie,

The condiments like catsup (ketchup), mayo, and mustards are free. Most of the soft drinks we buy are becoming super sized in fast food restaurants, so we can get refills for free. Of course I still believe we pay for it out front, when we buy the first serving. I doubt they'd offer it otherwise.

I'm big (both my size and as to what I enjoy drinking... smile ) into iced tea. I probably drink about eight or nine gigantic glasses a day. That combined with my ten to twelve cups of coffee keeps me buzzing until I go into a shut down mode to sleep. But most places in the U.S. give refills on ice tea as well, just like coffee. Of course again, we probably pay the price up front. Some of us ending up getting a better deal because we drink more of it, while those that drink less of it pay more for it.

To be honest, I get so much caffiene every day that it's a good thing I'm not a brain surgeon. My hands would be shaking so bad that I might end up giving someone a vasectomy at the same time I was operating on their brain. Not an encouraging thing for promoting new patients I don't think. frown

Fortunately, nobody has asked me to perform surgery. But I am experienced in the medical field. Every once in a while I have to go through a procedure on myself. I have to remove my foot from my mouth.... laugh

Wolf (Who dislikes the person who takes his blood every month nearly as much as the average lawyer... smile )

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#60694 - 08/23/01 11:30 AM Re: 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
Tia Offline
Member

Registered: 02/18/01
Posts: 170
Brinkie,
I always order "un café con leche DOBLE" to get what I want. wink

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#60695 - 08/23/01 12:04 PM Re: 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
josie Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 04/01/01
Posts: 26
Loc: Silver Spring, MD, USA
And the other thing Dan the Michigarian mentioned, the doors/handles: amen to that! My daughter and I were in Spain for 3 weeks and we found ourselves constantly pushing when we should have pulled, and vice versa. What really annoyed me was that I could see the word TIRAR right there on the door. I know what it means, but for some reason when I see tirar I get the feeling that I should throw or toss the door, which to my brain is more like push than empujar is. Hard to explain. About 3 days before our trip was over, my brain had finally made the adjustment, and I rarely made a mistake. Then it became fun people watching. You could tell who the tourists were by what happened when they came to doors with handles. My daughter and I still laugh about tirar/empujar. smile josie

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#60696 - 08/23/01 07:20 PM Re: 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
Fernando Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 07/05/01
Posts: 1551
Loc: Madrid, Spain
Hi!

One of the things I adored from the USA was the free refilling smile It was a strange sensation, but very pleasant. Another thing that shocked me was that when I asked for a barbacue sauce in a McDonalds they gave me three portions for free! Here you have to pay for them, and in some places even for the ketchup and moutard.

About the tirar/empujar there is an explanation. If a place get so crowded and there is an emergency (fire, ...) if people go all over the door there is no danger that they all get traped, because all the doors are opened from inside to outside. I didn't know it was different in other countries by the way smile

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#60697 - 08/24/01 04:23 PM Re: 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
Kurt Offline
Member

Registered: 08/02/00
Posts: 184
Loc: Chicago, IL. USA
In America, one pushes a door to exit, and pulls to enter. That is prescribed by most municipal fire codes (an exit door one must pull is a fire hazard as it hinders exiting in an emergency). Is it the same in Spain and Europe? It ought to be...

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#60698 - 08/24/01 05:14 PM Re: 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
Anonymous
Unregistered


There are the same regulations, I believe, but they are not always honoured. There is a small percentage of doors that open towards the inside of the shop.

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#60699 - 08/25/01 03:26 PM Re: 2 things i noticed that europe needs to jump on.
Zzeus11 Offline
Member

Registered: 09/08/00
Posts: 56
Thinking about doorknobs and 'no free refills'brings to mind why I like Spain , and a little bit of the other europe too.
Those things make it what it is.
I don't want a free re-fill on my coffee con leche , I want to walk to the counter , unless I'm already there , and ask for one . Just like the locals.
I'm happy to pay another 150 pesetas for it.

If my daily hydration requirements exceed the normal service quotas at cafe bars or restaurants , I can always go to some hipermarket to by more bottled water.

America is great , I am happy to be here , but if every other place was just like this , then why go anywhere??

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