The "Yogi-Yo" Button

Korea is not a place where you tip people. The taxi driver doesn't get a tip. The guy who delivers food doesn't get a tip. The waitress doesn't get a tip. I think that this slightly changes the attitude of the service industry. They aren't worried about making good tips, they just do their jobs. At restuarants, this translates into the "yogi-yo" button. Yogi-yo may be one of the most useful Korean phrases. Basically it means "here." You can use it in a taxi to mean "stop here." You can use it to get someone's attention. In restuarants, it can be used to get your server's attention from across the room. Apparently it isn't rude to scream "Hey! Over here!" to the person bringing your food. However, most of the time, you don't have to worry about doing this because of the yogi-yo button. On every table, there is a button. When you push it, the waitress comes to your table. That way, they don't have to come and check on you, and you don't have to shout across the restuarant. It is actually quite brilliant. Want another giant pitcher of beer? Just push the yogi-yo button, and magically someone comes to attend to your needs. I have gotten so used to having the yogi-yo button that I don't know what to do when it's not there. The other day, Paco and I were at an Indian/Tibetan restuarant, and there wasn't a yogi-yo button. We looked at each other very confused and wondered how we would order without a yogi-yo button. This is a moment when I worry about what it will be like to go home. How will I order food without a magic button that brings the server to my table?