The Art of A Cup of Tea
Miss, can you give me tea water ? Passenger A asked a cabin crew member. The staff proceeded to give the passenger a cup of tea and a cup of water. The passenger was baffled and commented, "I don't think I asked for ice water!
"Miss, could you please give me a cup of Oolong tea?" Passenger B asked the same crew member. She then gave him a cup of hot Oolong tea but the passenger commented, I thought the tea is supposed to be served cold?" The crew apologised, "I am sorry. I will give you a cup of cold Oolong tea right away. Please wait for a moment.
Passenger C nearby said, "Miss, can you please give me a cup of tea as well? " This time the crew member decided to find out exactly what the passenger wanted, as she had already made two mistakes.
"Certainly, sir. Would you like Ceylon tea, green tea or Chinese tea? the crew member asked. "Ceylon tea is fine. Passenger C replied. "A cup of Ceylon tea. Would you like sugar an mil with that?" asked the crew. Passenger C replied, "No, thank you.
In a moment, the crew served the passengers with their iced Oolong tea and Ceylon tea just as they liked, and they were pleased.
Service Concept
Although speaking the same Ianguage, people from different regions may have different interpretations of the same phrase.
While some Chineses say "tea water" to mean tea, others regard "tea water" ' as simply water. People from Southeast Asia often prefer cold drinks because of the hot weather, while people from Greater China prefer hot drinks, especially tea.
If one is not sure about passengers' preferences, the best thing to do is to ask and confirm with them. Professional service providers should continually work to enhance their knowledge, broaden their horizions by getting to know cultures, languages and traditions of different countries and regions.
The better equipped one is, the easier it will be to understand and anticipate passengers' needs and hence provide quality services. It helps to avoid a lot of problems too.
