Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
ozark1 wrote:5) British. Polite and refined.
arjunsarup wrote:DTWPurserBoy wrote:Succintly put! I'm Indian and would agree with you.
DTWPurserBoy wrote:As a Mandarin-speaker I spent a LOT of time in China. It is only in about the last 10-15 years that a middle class has developed that gave them the income to travel. There are no instructions classes or books on inflight etiquette (hmmmm.....maybe I should write one) so you can't really blame them for what we perceive as crude behavior. Just explain things carefully, respectfully and politely and they will do whatever you want to do. Indians can be VERY demanding and require a touch more courtesy. Address them as sir or madam, bring a pitcher of hot milk with the tea and look them in the eye when you talk to them. Offer a compliment on some particular item of food or a city you have enjoyed and you will have friends for life. Swedes can be tough---major alcohol issues. Watch how much you serve and keep a close eye that any duty-free bottles are not being consumed. Japanese are the easiest passengers in the world--they can board a fully loaded 747 with NO questions, stow their bags properly and be seated with belts fastened in minutes. I wish the rest of the world could learn that. Americans can run the gamut from ignoring you totally to having a screaming fit because you ran out of chicken the row in front of them and you did it on purpose. Gotta handle them on a one-to-one basis. LOVE the Scottish! When I would pick up dinner trays these sweet little old ladies would apologize for not eating all their peas because they gave them gas. Always courteous and fun. The Dutch can be a little gruff but it is just the way they are. Chat with them a minute and they are fine. Central Africans are interesting---the ladies board wearing these incredibly beautiful outfits with matching headgear. Compliment them on their looks and they politely smile and nod to say thank you--with incredible dignity.
It is hard to generalize about any one group of people--at briefing I usually ask for a "cultural tip" from someone who has flown the route a lot and try to use it during the flight. Little stuff like never touch an Asian child's hair. Don't put soy sauce on white rice (VERY gauche!). For many Asian nations pointing the soles of your feet at someone is the height of rudeness--watch when you cross your legs. In Thailand if you drop a coin and it rolls across the floor NEVER stomp on it to catch it--the King is on each coin and they are grossly offended. That can actually get you arrested.
a380787 wrote:It's usually the Mainlanders with those poor mannerisms. Don't lump other ethnically Chinese with those.
As a Mandarin-speaker I spent a LOT of time in China. It is only in about the last 10-15 years that a middle class has developed that gave them the income to travel. There are no instructions classes or books on inflight etiquette (hmmmm.....maybe I should write one) so you can't really blame them for what we perceive as crude behavior. Just explain things carefully, respectfully and politely and they will do whatever you want to do
DTWPurserBoy wrote:Swedes can be tough---major alcohol issues. Watch how much you serve and keep a close eye that any duty-free bottles are not being consumed. Japanese are the easiest passengers in the world
TK787 wrote:Once I saw a woman passenger buy a pair of earrings from the Duty Free cart for the woman FA on a DL flight to IST, for rewarding her good service
Lofty wrote:I have lost count of the times in over 20 years that I have had Americans say "that's not how we do it back home, you must know" as if the only way of doing things is the American way!
PhoenixVIP wrote:a380787 wrote:It's usually the Mainlanders with those poor mannerisms. Don't lump other ethnically Chinese with those.
Easily there are equal proportion of other ethnic Chinese (and that includes Hong Kong or Macau or Taiwan or autonomous region) who are just are poor in manners, some perhaps worse than others. I wonder how many years of your life you have spent in China and travelled here?As a Mandarin-speaker I spent a LOT of time in China. It is only in about the last 10-15 years that a middle class has developed that gave them the income to travel. There are no instructions classes or books on inflight etiquette (hmmmm.....maybe I should write one) so you can't really blame them for what we perceive as crude behavior. Just explain things carefully, respectfully and politely and they will do whatever you want to do
That is just hilarious. You can write exactly how the perfect passenger should behave and no one would read it. There are far too many people in the population and we know that in many cases when we don't rush we don't get what we want. It is something that affect the population entirely and only now with etiquette becoming important is there a slow shift in this paradigm. The next generation of Chinese will bring that forward and it is a process through time.
Every culture and every country will have its fair share of idiots that can spoil any flight. Rather than generalise we can work with people to make them better and educate them in a way that is socially acceptable which is what we see today.
Lofty wrote:I have lost count of the times in over 20 years that I have had Americans say "that's not how we do it back home, you must know" as if the only way of doing things is the American way!
DTWPurserBoy wrote:arjunsarup wrote:DTWPurserBoy wrote:Succintly put! I'm Indian and would agree with you.
Thanks for the compliment. When we first started service to BOM we had Indian interpreters aboard and they were a wealth of cultural information. They stomped out more brush fires started by insensitive flight attendants. Gesture with your entire hand--never point with a finger. Use a "genuine" (as in NOT an "airplane" smile) and take an extra few seconds, acknowledging the entire family (especially the children). Pour tea (we used real Indian teas) carefully without slopping it. And carry LOTS of sugar--the real stuff.
In turn, you will be treated with the utmost courtesy in India. We stayed at a 5 star hotel overlooking the Arabian Sea and it was a pleasure to enjoy lunch, the hotel shops and venture out to some of the "best" stores (flight crews love to shop and word gets around quickly who is good and who is not). I still get a Christmas card every year from the man that made me an Air Force bomber jacket about ten years ago (I still wear it). Sure, there is a lot of poverty which is sad but people are friendly and welcoming and they can tell when you are really enjoying the country.
IAHWorldflyer wrote:
The comment about the Japanese is spot on. Flew my first domestic 777 in Japan earlier this year. Was amazed that they didn't start boarding until 20 minutes before scheduled departure. Then economy class started about 15 minutes prior. I thought we'd be late. Not to worry! Everyone got on, sat down, stowed their bags and we were off on time! As an American, it was a sight to see!