Coming to America

Just like Eddie Murphy in that movie classic. That's right, I'm USA bound. I've got a plane to catch Friday morning to ATX where I will be attending the wedding of our dear friends Cory and Jordan.

C.J. can't make it but I realized, hey, I can. So I'm going to their wedding and then getting in some quick visits with friends and family. Last but certainly not least I will be eating lots of queso and shopping at Target.

Tonight I went to our neighborhood bar Bananas and had a typical Grenadian service experience. We were watching the first game of the World Series on one TV at the bar. There is another TV at the bar, but it was tuned to the what looked like a nature show about an African safari on the BBC. I asked the bartender if she could change the station on that TV so we could watch the game there too. Approximately 15 people were sitting around the bar watching the game. I made a gesture to these people and said "I think everyone here is watching the game."

Well she looked at me and she said "No they're not. Some people are watching the BBC." I looked around and started to say "who?" but then I realized she was talking about herself. I said, "you're watching it?" and she said yes which I'm pretty sure also translated to "go to hell" in her book. O.K., so much for that.

About 20 minutes later Brigit tried to order food from the same bartender. She told Brigit to go to the restaurant side. When Brigit went to the restaurant side the waitress said "you should order at the bar." Brigit insisted so the waitress took her order.

Later our food came and Brigit asked the waitress for an extra plate. The waitress said she couldn't bring it, Brigit would have to go to the Cave to get a plate. The Cave is the outside area of the bar.

Then at 11, even though the World Series was in the sixth inning and the only people in the bar were watching the game, the bartender started playing loud, thumping club music. That's about the time I decided to head on home and hope the Phillies could make it without my support.

So they're not big on service here. I'm looking forward to American wait staff that actually want to accommodate their customers. If you are into service, you would be horrified at some of the things that go on here.

That experience made me glad I'll be going home for a week. Although I think I'll miss my adult summer camp life here. And I'll miss my husband a lot. Some things you just learn to live with, like a little bad service.