the BEST ROK: NUMBER 3

SERVIC-UH.

No tipping. Better service. Free food. What could be better?

If you try to tip in Korea, it is more likely that the worker will run you down to return your money than to accept it. It's disrespectful to tip here (unless you are in a foreigners bar). If you tip them it's the equivalent of telling them, 'Hey! You're gonna need this money when you are out of a job soon.'

You're thinking the service might suffer, right? No. In fact it's even better. They are always on point with everything. And the roughly translated Korean word for 'here,' 'yogeeyeo' is not only acceptable to yell out but it's expected whenever you are trying to order. 'HEY, OVER HERE PLEASE!'

What do they do if they appreciate your business and attitude and foreign status? They give you free food and drinks. THIS is what I call love. And in love the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Bill Cosby, you were so right. I love that JELLO swirl, too.What is the word for free stuff? 'SERVICE-UH.' They will bring you free food and repeat that beautiful word 'SER-VIC-UH.' When I hear that word my world slows down to fluttering heartbeats. It's astounding how much you get for how little you pay sometimes.

I know everyone has a spot where they get hooked up. For example, Romio's. I love that place. I love that staff. And they all of us from the basketball/drinking team formerly known as Prestige Worldwide now aptly renamed Eastlake Romio's. They hook us up every Thursday. Sometimes Wednesdays, too. But you rarely find a place with that level of service. Here it seems like we find a new 'spot' every week.

The worst part about this is when I return to the United States. I am going to have to tip again when the service is no where near the bar Koreans have set for me. This isn't to say I haven't had sub par service here. I have. But it happens so rarely as compared to America. I already know that I am going to forget to tip once or twice out of habit. But Korea has set the bar so high that American servers are gonna have to earn it.

WOOOO SERVICE!


NOTES:

Go back to the TOP TEN KRAZIEST THINGS ABOUT KOREA and check out the comment by Anon #2. That is either one incredible joke or one interesting uhoh for me.