Whether you're getting a massage or gambling in an illegal poker room, now you can learn the protocol on the internet instead of plunging blindly into an unfamiliar social situation.
Also of interest are the protocols for familiar situations (getting the check at a restaurant, etc.) but in different places all over the world.-- calculust, Dec 03 2009 www.travelmag.co.uk: Hammam "heaven" in Marrakesh http://www.travelma.../article_1298.shtmlI went to Morocco some time ago and found it bewildering - the most confusing part was the whole protocol thing - half deferential, half in your face, except you never knew which way was appropriate at the time. [zen_tom, Dec 03 2009] Being given the gift voucher was awkward, or the massage itself?-- hippo, Dec 03 2009 21Q - I'm sure you could look up the protocol for any given situation or manners in various countries and find it on the internet. But I don't think there's an existing consolidated, wiki-like site for these. Kind of like how you can look up any slang but urban dictionary is still really useful.-- calculust, Dec 03 2009 Great idea - we all suffer from Inappropriate Protocol Anxiety until such time as we learn (or develop, in emergent instances) the protocol for the given situation - What's quite interesting though is that there also seems to be a kind of shared protocol among those who do not yet know the protocol of a given situation - a kind of naive proto-protocol.
[21Q] I once had a hammam, which wasn't all that bad - but the protocolic situation I'm still stealing myself for is getting a cleaning lady.
However, cleaning ladies aside, isn't all this what travel guides are there for?-- zen_tom, Dec 03 2009 Then you get to old or jaded to care and see the situation as added colour to life.
Then again, if people start pulling out firearms!-- wjt, Dec 03 2009 [zt] Yes, I too recognise this Ur-Protocol for Uneasy Situations. Also, you mean "steeling", not "stealing".-- hippo, Dec 03 2009 random, halfbakery