I have had the very slight misfortune lately of needing people to come over and fix things in our house. This isn't too bad, and I am mostly just thankful to get things fixed-- especially that washing machine!
Did you know that it's customary here to serve your handyman, plumber, and electrician a cup of tea? This seems a little surprising to me, since in the US you're never expected to do more than offer a worker a glass of water. When the washing machine repairman came over, I felt pricked with guilt for not having any black tea on hand. I don't get many visitors, and although I know I should have tea available, I have so much trouble brewing it with the terribly hard water here in Bury, that I let myself run out. I was pleased to discover that this repairman was from Italy, though. I could tell by his accent, but the way he whistled and hummed his way through the work also gave him away. I offered him an espresso, but he declined. He was so cheerful and friendly, and meticulously tidied up after himself, even hanging up the towel he used to mop up that stale water spilled from the machine. What a gentleman.
Yesterday, another man came over, hired by our letting agency to make a few repairs. This time, I was ready (or so I thought.) I waited until he was working indoors, and made him a cup of the tea I had just bought. I realized as it was steeping that a burly guy like him might not be a fan of "Lady Grey," but hoped he wouldn't notice. I offered him the cup, and simultaneously realized and apologized that I didn't have any milk-- we don't drink it, and so it would just go bad if I tried to keep some in the fridge! He shrugged that off and said he'd take two lumps. Huh? Oh! Sugar! I didn't have any sugar cubes, but I brought him the jar of sugar I had, and a spoon. It was awkward-- I'm definitely a novice at something that should be really, really easy. By now, especially. But he drank it, and I didn't feel like a jerk, like I had when I'd realized that I hadn't been serving the repairmen tea all year. I'll get some sugar cubes, too. I'll get it right. And I don't mind, either.
Something I have noticed about every person that has come by to fix something is that they are all perfectly punctual, courteous and considerate. Everyone cleans up after themselves, not even leaving a trace of the job they just did. They call me by my first name, instead of Ma'am. No one tries to smoke cigarettes in my house or even in my back yard. It is really, really nice. I am happy to make them a cup of tea. It's all so very civilized.
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Yesterday, another man came over, hired by our letting agency to make a few repairs. This time, I was ready (or so I thought.) I waited until he was working indoors, and made him a cup of the tea I had just bought. I realized as it was steeping that a burly guy like him might not be a fan of "Lady Grey," but hoped he wouldn't notice. I offered him the cup, and simultaneously realized and apologized that I didn't have any milk-- we don't drink it, and so it would just go bad if I tried to keep some in the fridge! He shrugged that off and said he'd take two lumps. Huh? Oh! Sugar! I didn't have any sugar cubes, but I brought him the jar of sugar I had, and a spoon. It was awkward-- I'm definitely a novice at something that should be really, really easy. By now, especially. But he drank it, and I didn't feel like a jerk, like I had when I'd realized that I hadn't been serving the repairmen tea all year. I'll get some sugar cubes, too. I'll get it right. And I don't mind, either.
Something I have noticed about every person that has come by to fix something is that they are all perfectly punctual, courteous and considerate. Everyone cleans up after themselves, not even leaving a trace of the job they just did. They call me by my first name, instead of Ma'am. No one tries to smoke cigarettes in my house or even in my back yard. It is really, really nice. I am happy to make them a cup of tea. It's all so very civilized.
PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.
It's a lovely custom, isn't it? Maybe get some small cartons of that long life milk to have on hand. It's always nice to offer a biscuit to go along with it, too. Glad your washing machine is fixed! It always took me so long to catch up whenever mine went on the fritz. xx
ReplyDeleteJenny, the UHT packs of milk are a good idea. I had a workman come over today, and when I offered him tea without milk, he hesitated, asked for coffee, and then said he really should *try* tea with milk, as he had never done so before! As it turns out, he enjoyed my lady tea very much without milk-- but he didn't think he'd like PG Tips without!
DeleteThat's cool. I like how civil it is!
ReplyDeleteYes, so civilized. I just wish I had done it "properly." Next time!
DeleteI like that little tradition. If we offered our repairman tea he'd probably be pretty impressed, but...
ReplyDeleteHe might think you were being weird-nice, trying to get him to charge you less?...
DeleteIt is lovely! Although for next time I would suggest having a box of PG Tips stashed away - what the English call 'builders' tea'. Lady Grey is definitely not in the repertoire of most English tea-drinkers!
ReplyDeleteYes, Vanina! I actually picked this one up on accident, and it did embarrass me a little to offer it to a worker. I couldn't make it to the market this morning before the next repairman came by. This one enjoyed the tea, and asked if I'd put lemon in. PG Tips is definitely on my grocery list!
DeleteThere's something here about offering tea to repairmen, too, but I think it's an out-of-date practice for most now. I don't drink much plain black tea, but I try to keep a box on hand for guests since that is most often what they prefer over green tea or my too-strong coffee. Anyhow, I'm glad to know this is an English tradition. It helps me make sense of it being an older practice here, too.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Lois! Are there many traditions in Ukraine that are adopted from Britain? Also, strong coffee and green tea are what I usually have on hand for us, too. I know enough now to seriously water down the coffee if I am serving it to a British visitor. I like the idea of always serving something when someone comes over. It had never really occurred to me to extend this to handymen, etc. before though. I think it's a good practice-- everyone deserves "a cuppa."
DeleteHa ha, glad someone's chimed in and tipped you off about PG Tips! I just wanted to add you don't need to worry about buying actual 'lumps' of sugar. It's more a turn of phrase now (meaning how many teaspoons of sugar to put in), no-one could tell the different between the types of sugar, I shouldn't think. Plus, lumps went out of fashion because they took too long to dissolve! You end up with sugar in the bottom when you've finished!
ReplyDeleteI was always taught to offer tea and coffee frequently to workmen. As my mother said, 'If you brew-up a lot they do a better job'. (It's certainly true of me at work!)
Oh, boy-- thanks for telling me about the sugar cubes. Just one more thing NOT to keep on hand, which I am glad for! I went to the supermarket last night and picked up UHT milk, PG Tips, and some lemon cookies. The idea of brewing up multiple times was a little overwhelming to me, so today I made a pot of tea for the chimney sweep-- he didn't drink it all, but at least I felt I'd given him plenty, in case!
DeleteI love that you have a proper chimney sweep!
DeleteKristin-- too cliche, right? I know it's terrible, but it was all I could do to resist exclaiming "Step in Time!" His accent was just like out of Mary Poppins, and he WAS covered in soot...
DeleteGreat post! This is always awkward for me too. I didn't realize until just recently that I should be offering tea to repair people, and now I keep thinking back and cringing at all those moments when I had a repair person over and never did offer anything to drink. We don't drink tea or coffee in our house, but I keep meaning to pick some up just to have on hand. I had a friend over just yesterday and when I asked if she would like a drink, she asked for tea. I felt bad when she had to settle for a glass of water. I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to make tea or coffee for any of my guests. I don't even own a kettle! ha!!
ReplyDeleteKris, I am so glad to hear I'm not the only one who has been out of it on this custom. I do feel pretty lame about the other times, but I'll just do my best from here on out! You should probably just have a neighbor-friend come over and take you through the process. Even just setting up a tray today, I wondered if there was something I was doing wrong, even though I have drunk plenty of tea over the years!
DeleteI assumed everybody in the world gave workmen tea! It seems really funny to me not to. Biscuits generally do go down well (though more and more workmen are 'trying to be good', I've found) and anything beyond a biscuit gets appreciation. Homemade flapjack gets you remembered from year to year by the boiler servicers as the Flapjack Lady! Not sure if it gets you priority service though...
ReplyDeleteSome window fitters we had in a few years ago did irritate me by asking if there was any chance of a brew the moment they'd stepped in the door. The builders who were here at the same time never declined a tea or coffee, but never asked for one either, which is much nicer.
Hi Hazel! I do imagine it must seem rude not to extend such a basic courtesy. In the Philippines, it was always my job to prepare a tray of drinks and cookies for guests-- but workers never expected that, although I'm sure we gave them coke if they were thirsty. I had the chance to get it right today, when our chimney sweep came over. Taking everyone's advice to heart, I actually set up a whole tray, with a pot of tea, a bowl of sugar, little pitcher of milk, and even a cookie. Honestly, it seemed like a LOT to do for someone who was here working, for under an hour. I didn't say much about it, just brought the tray and left it where he was working with a "Here you go." It was rewarding, though-- he brought the tray back to me and told me how incredibly nice it was that I had served him on a tray. Then he laughed about an American who had offered him soda.
Delete:-) He must have thought you were so polite!
DeleteI have to confess I'm never too sure about how to present it all nicely without being too Hyacinth Bucket about it!
I'm loving this conversation. I just had to look up "Hyacinth Bucket," and among other things, this is what Wikipedia had to say about her:
Delete"Hyacinth frequently invites people to her 'candlelight suppers', however these are disliked by her guests, who go to huge lengths to avoid them. The suppers are held in Hyacinth's dining room, decorated in an elaborate and anachronistic Victorian style, which is dominated by a portrait of Winston Churchill glaring down at the diners. Hyacinth has been seen to spend all afternoon arranging her table for a supper, and often recruits her next-door neighbour, Liz, to inspect it. Liz has been trained to feign admiration at the elaborate table."
I think some of my cousins used to watch that show!
Sorry to send you off around the internet! And of course, she insists her surname is pronounced Bouquet...
DeleteOh my gosh - I absolutely love Keeping Up Appearances - so fun seeing this Hyacinth reference! And I haven't seen it in years.
DeleteAnd I absolutely love hearing about this British tradition. I think I've had a vague knowledge about this practice. Probably from watching so much British TV but never really thought about it. But how perfectly lovely - and civil. It is just this type of thing that really connects people. Making that little effort to make someone comfortable and at home. I wish there was more of this type of thing in America. When I worked in retail for many years I used to always say one of my favorite things about the job was "exchanging pleasantries" with customers at check out. And I still enjoy this from the other side of the register. Just taking that moment to connect with the person standing in front of you rather than just being another nameless face that you come in contact with for a few minutes.
Loved reading this post!
Marissa, I think you and I related on a lot of levels! I worked for years as a server, and even though I am very introverted, I really loved meeting all of those strangers and playing a part in their meals. The last restaurant I worked at was special, in that we were encouraged to spend time with our guests, and even sit and have a drink with them, touch their shoulder when we spoke with them, etc. I think people really felt the difference, and that sort of dynamic made it one of the best jobs I ever had, in terms of feeling like I had made plenty of meaningful connections,and the workplace itself felt like an extension of family... The way we talk to each other, no matter who it is, MATTERS!
DeletePG Tips...going to look this up. I am quite a lover of teas... do you like this brand? Or is it just the common brand, like Lipton may be in the US?
ReplyDeletePG tips are amazing. As a converted tea drinker (married to a Brit), they are my favorite. Good, strong, 'proper' flavor. Make sure to let it steep for 5 minutes or more, and add a good spoonful of sugar and a slug of milk, so the tea is a rich caramel color.
DeleteChelsey, it is a popular brand with famous adverts. I drink Earl Grey personally, but my husband loves Yorkshire Tea (they even do a hard water version). It makes quite strong tea, but that's how he likes it. (It's colloquially known as Builder's Tea over here- strong with milk and sugar. (He has his without the sugar)).
DeleteChelsea, I used to like to buy PG Tips in the States because it was pretty much the strongest tea I could find. They sell it at World Market, if you are looking!
DeleteHazel, I did try the Yorkshire hard water tea ("let's have a proper brew!" but it only seemed to provide color, not much flavor in our hard water. I love really strong tea, and that's why I basically gave it up after moving here. Even a Brita filter didn't make enough of a difference. I have started buying bottled water just for making tea with now, and it's good. Such a shame, though! I couldn't believe that I was drinking the worst tea of my life after moving to England! By now I've figure it out, though, and I'm enjoying it again.
DeleteWill look for it in Stockholm. I love a good tea recommendation. And speaking of those, if you have any favorite green tea blends, I would be delighted to know about those too. Green tea is my favorite. ;)
DeleteBut without milk or sugar. :)
DeleteChelsea, do you like rose tea? I am always on the lookout for a good black and rose tea blend. I recently asked about one, and all the shop had was a green tea with roses. I thought I'd try it, and it is honestly one of the best teas I've had in my life! So good! It only cost £4 for a bag of loose tea that will last quite a while. I'd be happy to make a trade with you, if you want to send me your favorite from over there! You can email me.
DeleteI find Twinings 'everyday' suits even the fussiest workman / mother-in-law! Another aspect is the after work favour from a friend of a friend type handyman, they seem to appreciate a bottle of beer at the end of the day!
ReplyDeleteOh, my gosh. This just keeps getting more and more elaborate! Too funny!
Deletehi Ariana,
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Arianna, I'm sharing this great discussion with Nick and here's what he says: you ask the bloke if he wants a cuppa tea. Then ask, milk and sugar mate? He answers, you give him a mug ( no cup, saucer and tray.. that's embarrassing) and if he's lucky he gets a ginger nut, no fancy Waitrose or Duchy originals. That's the perspective of an Englishman but I'm with you, just keep doing it your way, it can only help the service! PS my English neighbor Anna said she once gave the workmen Earl Grey tea because it was all she had. They poured it out when they thought she wasn't looking! Sue
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue! It's fun to have the perspective of an Englishman. Although it definitely strikes me as the manner in which a man would offer another man tea-- I think maybe ladies are expected to be a little more... hostess-y? What do YOU do, I wonder?
DeletePG Tips is good, Yorkshire Gold is also good. I'm a UK person living in Oregon now and World Market is my one-stop shop :) I had some workmen come to my house over here the other week and asked them if they would like a cup of tea (I translated my first thought - which was to ask them if they wanted a brew!) to which I got some very strange looks. Apparently Oregon workmen do not require a cuppa. They were incredibly polite, cleaned up after themselves and finally at my pushing, accepted a glass of water :) I kind of miss making the brew though!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they thought you were offering a beer, since you said "brew" and it IS Oregon! I am really glad to hear that they were very tidy and polite-- not always the case, in my experience! I do imagine that you would feel like something's missing if you don't have many occasions to serve a cup of tea to the people who come by!
DeleteCivilization, when done right, is really quite lovely.
ReplyDeleteAriana, my US mother never tasted coffee until she married -- her dad was from County Durham -- and so I grew up drinking tea, too. Here are some tips I learned at her knee: Make sure the water is at a rolling boil when you pour it over the tea. Preheat the pot -- pour in a little very
ReplyDeletehot water first, slosh it around and dump that. When you make a potful, add an extra bag (or spoonful) of tea "for the pot". The absolute best teapot ever is a brown betty!