Is it impolite to 'snap fingers' to call waitstaff when dining at a restaurant? A Taiwanese woman posted online, saying that her boyfriend calls the server by snapping his fingers when they eat out, and although she's told him it's disrespectful, he doesn't think much of it. In response, netizens with experience in the food and beverage industry agree that this way of calling a server is indeed very rude.
The woman posted on Dcard, saying she has been with her boyfriend for over three years, and whenever they dine out, he always calls the server by snapping his fingers. She finds this behavior really annoying and has advised him to simply wave instead, but her boyfriend believes that since he's paying for the meal, waitstaff should serve him well, and he doesn't think there's anything wrong with his actions.
The original poster expressed that she sincerely hopes her boyfriend would change his behavior, and she revealed that perhaps it's because he comes from a wealthy family—when eating with his family, they are also often disrespectful toward servers. This may be a result of his upbringing, and she sought netizens' opinions.
After the post, many netizens who have worked in food service agreed that finger-snapping is extremely rude: "Anyone who's worked in the food industry will instantly feel turned off by people who are rude to servers—even if I liked them before, all that goodwill vanishes," "I once had a father snap his fingers to call me over for all sorts of requests at the table, and I honestly wondered—are you calling me like I'm a dog?" "I used to work at a café where my boss clapped his hands to summon people, which was really unacceptable."
Some netizens also believe small actions reveal character, and advised breaking up: "Poor upbringing, I'd say something too, but if he won’t listen, just distance yourself," "Failed education—why would you want to continue dating someone raised in that kind of family, let alone marry them," "No empathy—think about it carefully," "No manners, definitely don't marry him," "Details reveal character; finger-snapping is totally not OK," "Let me gently suggest you break up. Why would you want to keep someone with no manners? I wouldn’t even want to imagine how your kids would be raised by someone like that."