Originally Posted by
Carfield
She wanted to help me with my carryon, but I insisted on carrying it myself. It was not in my nature to let anyone to carry my bags, but I noticed that other first class passengers actually let those first class agents handling their carryon. It was strange to see a tall European man, followed by an Indonesian guy rolling his suitcase but I guess it was part of the VIP service.
An interesting cultural difference. The American feels uncomfortable being helped to do something, they can easily do themselves. They feel that it is somehow disrespectful to the agent.
The European feels that by carrying the bag himself that he is disrespectful to the agent, implying that the agent is incapable of doing his/her job or that his/her job is unnecessary.
Not saying either is right or wrong, it is just a difference of perspective.
Having made my cultural literacy comment for the day, let me just say:
Thank you, Carfield for an interesting trip report about a lesser covered airline in FT. I have never flown Garuda due to lingering doubts about their safety, but your report might tempt me to give them a try.