paying the bill

Cultural dissonance is often subtle, and our Cagliese hosts are ever gracious with my redundant ignorance.  The purchasing protocol at Starbucks in America is significantly dissonant with the caffes in Italia. A transaction at Mimi’s Caffe on the piazza in Cagli illustrates this sufficiently.  Standing at the chest-high bar, I waited briefly for my turn; when she turned her focus on me, I ordered,  “vorrei expresso, perfavore;” I held out my five euro as a clear intent to pay immediately. In the States, I don’t know that this offering would be refused for a moment, but Mimi went about her preparations, ignoring my obvious faux pas. She set the saucer on the bar with a sugar packet and a napkin followed by the lilliputian cup half-filled with the dark coffee drink. I downed it and the time now seemed right. Again, I held out the euro bill. This time she took it; I opened my hand to receive the change and that dissonance descended on the transaction again as she set the change on the counter, bypassing my hand.