Service with a snarl for a second-class citizen

It's almost official now -- I either have to stop going out to "nice" places in the city or enroll in an anger management class.

In recent years I've had to remind myself to switch into "zen" mode before I enter some establishments, be it a restaurant, cafe, bar, hotel or even a shop.

But many times it would be only a matter of minutes before some sort of friction occurred between me, the patron, and the establishments' employees.

In the ensuing episodes, I found myself reciting "goosefraba" in the desperate hope that the old Eskimo word popularized by Jack Nicholson in the film Anger Management would work its magic and calm me down.

OK, before you think that I'm some sort of strung-up bitch who gets a kick out of going off on people, or a begrudged know-it- all with a chip on her shoulder who wants to tell other Indonesians how things should be done, let me tell you that I am, according to many who know me, a pretty nice person.

I say thank you to my maid, postal workers, toll booth employees, directory information operators (although they always manage to give me an obsolete number) and just about anyone who helps make my life easier.

I tip waiters and waitresses generously, in proportion to the bill and the mess I make on the table. I tolerate unnecessary mistakes, slothfulness and the frustrating indifference that characterizes much of our service industry.

In general, I believe everybody deserves to be treated equally.

Which brings me to my point: At the very same places expatriates and western visitors enjoy high quality service, I am considered less of a valued customer than my lighter-skinned fellow patrons.

Despite the amount of money we are prepared to spend at these places, locals are treated as second-class citizens.

You go into a restaurant moments before a western couple sits down at the next table. Guess who gets the menu and gets to order first? And guess who gets their food last, with cursory service to boot?

You probably know the answers, but if you have never been subject to such discriminatory treatment, then lucky you.

I went to a restaurant in a downtown five-star hotel with a western colleague.

Things went from bad to worse.

The waiter didn't acknowledge or address me when we were ordering, focusing on the "sir" at the table. Even when the waiter put our drinks on the table, the usual lady's-first order of service was not imposed.

At one point, I stepped outside to the restroom, and upon reentering the restaurant was met with a hostile stare by a couple of employees, who asked me condescendingly, "Where are you going?"

That question may seem innocent enough. But in that context and combined with their contemptuous looks, it sounded more like: "Where do you think you're going?"

So we brought the matter to the attention of the management, and as compensation we were given a couple of vouchers and an apologetic note, but the experience still left me feeling hollow.

Sadly, there was no place worse than Bali before the horrible bombings last year. Local tourists were often treated as mere fillers, the ones who helped keep business going during the off season.

When Australian, Japanese and European visitors swamped the island, I could not help but feel local tourists were thought of as a nuisance, diverting attention away from our special foreign guests.

Now, with foreigners staying away as a result of the bombings, Iraq and SARS, I notice that many bars and shops, which were once unfriendly to domestic tourists, suddenly appreciate us more.

Racism is not the issue here, but it's the inferior mindset that is often referred to as the "inlander" mentality, from the derogatory term for locals used during the Dutch colonial era.

While their bosses may not agree, many who work in the service industry still presume that western expatriates have more money than locals, that they will spend more and that they are thus deserving of better treatment. West really is best to them.

In some ways, I think it is not their fault. It should be the responsibility of the proprietors of the businesses to educate their employees that all customers must be treated equally, regardless of their skin color or the way they dress.

But that whole reeducation process could take a while (if there ever is one). Until then, I have a lot of "goosefraba" reciting to do.

-- Sarasvati