Social norms

On this trip I have discovered a few. The first was attempting to purchase a pastry one morning. I walked in and could not get waited on. Beginning to get angry I noted a woman next to me had a ticket with a number on it. Somehow I communicated with her and asked where to obtain one. She motioned over to the front door.

At the very front to the side, easily missed,  was a dual ticket machine with no indication of which one was for what. I took one and luckily it was not the eat in but take away. While this was on a main street comprehension of English was nil. Can't help it but I am often suspicious of this when in a highly active tourist area. Perhaps I am a cynic? or a realist?

Later in Cascais at the ice cream shop I was reminded of a Russian shop that had a multitude of people performing the various components of a simple task. In this case it was not clear that one had to pay first and then be served the flavors requested.  In this case I was on a tour and cannot help but wonder if the tour guide should have informed us of this. But then he probably sees this as normal and does not know many other parts of the world operate differently. I could argue for this process in that the people serving do not have to handle money which is probably one of the dirtiest items