not suitable together

(No, no, not me and Lawrance  . . . we are perfectly suitable together! :))

sam order's at McDonald's--all by himselfThat is what the manager at McDonald's told me when I asked for mayo on my cheeseburger the other day.  In fact, my request was so not ok, the clerk had to go get the manager.  She wouldn't do it because beef and mayo are not suitable together. 

She said she would be happy to put some mayo in a cup and allow me to put it on my own burger but she couldn't couldn't add it to my cheeseburger for me because they "don't go together."

What!?!?!?!

It's been a looooong time since something has shocked me culturally . . . but this sure did.  I mean totally . . . mouth hanging wide open in total culture shock.  I felt like I must be an alien for wanting mayo with my beef.

But, "why?" I asked her.  Her only answer was "well, people in Taiwan don't think mayo goes with beef." 

shrimp, pineapple, mayo and some sprinklesIn my head I'm thinking, "WHAT!!!!! You guys put mayo on EVERYTHING . . . even fried shrimp!!"

Up until this point our whole conversation was in Chinese.  Seeing I was still suffering from acute culture shock the manager switches to English to ensure me that I heard correctly, "they are not suitable together."

Ok, fine, whatever.  I'll take it on the side and put it on myself.

I'm still not satisfied and I've continued to try to think about why . . . is it something to do with ying and yang?  something with the fact that cheeseburgers don't have lettuce and mayo in Chinese is only called "salad dressing" (doesn't work--what about the shrimp)?  something she made up to get me to leave her alone? 

Anyone out there with a another "suitable" possible reason?

She was nice in that she did give me the mayo--enough for 15 hamburgers, no joke--on the side in a sundae cup.  She must have felt really bad for literally sending me into acute culture shock.

(FYI: pic on left is from a few years ago when Sam was here . . . he ordered his dessert in Chinese by himself.  I was so proud of him.)



11 comments:

  1. This is a funny story. It reminds me of other instances where business folks think that the foreigners must not fully understand.
    Michael had an obvious cold once and a drink stand boss wouldn't sell him a iced drink, they insisted on a warm drink!
    My hair stylist often won't cut my hair how I ask - because "it won't look good that way" -- haha. Funny cultural moments.

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  2. That is hilarious!!! So sorry that you're suffering from culture shock. LOL. . have you googled it to make sure they aren't suitable together??? Hehehehe
    Thanks for sharing!

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  3. LOL, I think if French can eat fries with mayo, everyone can/should have mayo in their cheeseburger too.
    Mayo yummy....

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  4. Wow, that's crazy! Cultural preferences aside, if it's not illegal, why not just do it for the sake of customer service? Have you tried to get burgers with mayo in Taiwan before?

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  5. What is Lawrance's opinion? Did he have a clue why they said mayo and beef are not considered suitable together? Wierd....

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  6. Interesting!! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. that's a really cute story

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  8. actually i did google it and found NOTHING!
    maybe I should try googling it in Chinese.

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  9. Right! totally! The customer is always right, right???
    This was my first attempt to get mayo on a burger . . . at least that I can recall.

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  10. he doesn't know.
    he loved my story and laughed so hard, but has no clue either.
    I mean . . . come on they even put mayo on french toast for breakfast!!!!

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