Mitä mieltä? Blogista " Finland for thought"

Last week in France, it was me and 15 other Finns eating dinner at a fancy Nice restaurant. I watched in amusement as many of them asked for seperate checks when the bill arrived. Our waitress was so bewildered I think her head was going to explode. Finally someone had the sense to ask for the entire bill. Then about half the people whipped out their credit cards¿I¿m not sure how they expected that to work.



But in Finland (unlike France and the U.S.), if you have a table of 15 and you ask for seperate checks, the waitress blissfully fulfills your complicated request, then everyone shows their appreciation by not tipping her. It is nice this way - you ordered a small salad and water, and when someone says ¿everyone chip in 20 euros¿, you¿re not forced to subsidize the dude who drank five beers and had the steak. Although this mentality seems very un-Finnish - Finns are so accustomed to welfare-state thinking where essentially the citizens who ¿ordered a small salad and water¿ subsidize the citizens who ¿drank five beers and had the steak¿.



This pay-your-own-way mentality extends to home parties. How many times have you been invited to a ¿party¿ where the host provides the tiny apartment and floor space for you to sit down while you provide your own alcohol. Sorry but don¿t even bother sending me an invitation to your party if you¿re not going to provide plenty of booze. That was okay in college when everyone was broke, but now you have a job and plenty of money and, errr, maybe you don¿t have a job and plenty of money?



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