280 CultureShock! Egypt
“I already paid the driver. Give me a detailed list of the
other costs and I will be happy to pay you for that.”
React with annoyance and shock, and refuse to pay, saying,
“Well, where I come from when we invite someone to visit,
we don’t ask them to pay.”
Thank him for his gracious hospitality, telling him that this
is so little to pay for such a wonderful weekend.Comments
Well, if you never want to see this friend again, choose either
or . If the friend means something to you, choose
and write it off to experience. Even though with , you
already paid the driver according to your way of thinking,
your friend arranged for the driver. Therefore, any money
you gave the driver was considered a ‘tip’ by him. is just
blatantly insulting to your Egyptian friend.
It is easy to fall into this kind of situation. Your Egyptian
friend is not misleading you by offering to arrange everything.
They may even suggest you be their guest at their villa, but
this still may not mean you would not be expected to pay
for the costs. In other situations, especially if your Egyptian
friend is quite wealthy, they would not ask you to compensate
them for any expenses incurred. In this situation, your friend
would assume you would reciprocate on another occasion.
When in doubt, ask. There are a couple of ways to handle
this situation beforehand. First, when something like this
happens, you could easily tell your friend something like,
“Wow, it is great of you to offer. How much do you think it
will cost for transportation and everything?” Another way
you might want to handle an offer that seems too good to
be true or when you don’t want to be obligated for a future
reciprocation is to say something like, “Oh, I would never
presume to impose on you. We would expect to pay for
all costs associated with such generosity. How much will
that be?”
Most of the time, if your friends actually expect you to pay
for something, they will be straightforward and treat it as a
business deal—especially if you ask. But, don’t forget the
‘rule of threes’. Your hosts may fi rst protest that you shouldn’t