Island Living

Before we left for our little adventure in the Bahamas, one of the things I read in a few different places was not to expect customer service to be on par with the US... actually I think one author said "not even close". The customer is almost never right here (exception, I assume, is the service at the big resorts). That's OK, it's just a different way of doing things. Armed with this information, I have kept a very cool head in situations where I might have lost it in the States. That being said, the Bahamians, adults & children alike, have been some of the friendliest and most kind people we have ever met.

Anyway, this poor non-local guy in line in front of me at one of the Island Roots Fest conch salad booths was obviously used to the way things work here. He orders a medium conch salad, which was $8 (a large was $10). The guy hands the vendor a $10 bill and waits for his food & change. Vendor hands him his salad goes back to mixing. A few minutes later, the vendor looks at the guy and asks if he wanted something else. Guy says "No, just my change. I ordered a medium and I gave you $10." Vendor tells the guy, "well, I gave you a large" and he returns to the mixing. Guy hangs his head, says "ok" and walks away.

Another thing you learn quickly is to schedule your errands during the appropriate times. For example, where there are banks (there weren't any in the Exumas except for George Town), the hours can be limited. This photo is of the sign on the bank at Man-O-War Cay. The bank is open one day a week for 4 hours.