One thing that blows my mind completely is that the service sector in Ukraine is now better than in Europe or the US. Service was Soviet-type in the post-Soviet space up until 2005. My sister traveled back to Ukraine in that year and reported rude, contemptuous shop assistants and shamelessly defrauding waiters.
It was normal back then to charge a customer who ordered apple juice twice, for the juice and the apple. It was also normal to mock a customer’s appearance and mental capacity loudly and obnoxiously. It was normal to pretend you aren’t noticing a customer or laugh contemptuously in their face. This was the remnant of the Soviet era when shop assistants guarded the access to prized consumer goods amidst endless shortages and could afford to torture desperate customers.
Then it all magically changed, and today Ukrainians in Europe and America politely inquire why the service is so bad. My sister met with her Ukrainian colleagues, and they told stories about service in Ukraine that truly stun the imagination. I had no idea such dramatic improvement can occur so fast and on such a large scale.
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