"Would you like to pay?"......

The other day I was walking home after running errands downtown when I passed one of the many dingy cafes along Cuba Mall - this portion of Cuba is closed to traffic and is therefore deemed a "mall". I saw two women leaving this little cafe when all of a sudden am employee bursts through the door, catches up with the women and sheepishly says, "I'm sorry, um, uh, would you like to pay?'. Turns out those ladies had a nice lunch or coffee and then got up to leave without paying but not realizing it until they were accosted on the sidewalk by the cafe employee. I couldn't help but giggle as I strode past. In NZ we've had to learn how restaurants work and it was a bit challenging at first. I remember the first day we were in Wellington. After leaving our bags where we were going to stay we were dropped off downtown so we could have a look around. Yeah, we were both bleary eyed and overwhelmed after the flight but managed to make a decision to have a bite to eat at a cafe in the CBD (central business district). We wandered in off the sidewalk and weren't sure if we were supposed to seat ourselves or wait to be seated. After an awkward exchange with someone behind the counter we found a table and collapsed into the chairs. We ordered eggs, bacon and toast and had our first encounter with what NZ considers 'bacon'. Just be warned, if it says bacon, it's probably not what you think of when you envision bacon. Yeah, bacon here it some sort of middle or back bacon that shouldn't be prepared for human consumption. Yes, I know I'm a bacon snob. So we finish up and then wonder what do because no one is coming with the check. After a good twenty minutes of whispering, "What should we do?" and other such phrases we went up to the counter and within seconds we were paying for our food. A few days and few meals out later we realized that every place keeps track of what your eating and connects that to your table. Nevertheless when you're used to paying at the table this type of system is strange.

I really enjoyed the employee's question: "Would you like to pay?". Kiwis are all about not offending or stepping on toes and, like in this situation, where they should be more aggressive, they apologize and ask their patrons to pay for what they ordered. Things are different in NZ. :) So many things.