Locals in Iceland are on average not very happy campers contrary to legends
A smile is a rare thing in Iceland in spite of this nation being the happiest on earth for decades according to some rather stupid foreign research.
Then again, the researchers did not compare the happy data to the amount of anti-depressant pills every single individual in Iceland seems to be using and might affect the happy outcome. In fact, even compared to our depressed Scandinavian neighbors we use double the amount of most common medicines.
Why are we telling you this? Because this is the superficial nation you are about to visit. Else you would hardly be reading any website with Iceland in its title.
Team Total Iceland has gotten letters asking why, on average, good service is quite hard to find in many places. The best service you usually get from the thousands of locals farmers-turned-gold-rush-tourist-mad and have changed their farms into large-scale tourist area with cabins, bikes, kayaks and other stuff for rent for whoever comes around. The worst service you get from bigger hotels and the tons of new companies dying to take advantage of the mass-tourism this country is now experiencing.
On the whole the people of Iceland are reserved fuckers but doubly so for the masses working in the tourist industry. The locals have never known what good service is since this nation itself has only been traveling abroad for thirty years or so. They had no idea what service was until recently. Thus, you might get a half-smile when you enter a premises and when you pay but in the meantime nobody gives a flying fuck.
Especially for the thousands of foreign workers now slaving away in the tourist industry here. You see, it has been such an explosion of tourist here in less than three years nobody was prepared. Now every other job in tourism is manned by foreign nationals. And many of those, according to the local unions, are not getting paid the minimum wage in the country.
It goes without saying you are not going all-out for a boss that pays you below the minimum wage. Instead you think of ways to make the boss pay for being such a nitwit hillbilly.
And this is why you are not getting nice friendly service in Iceland. And this is also why you should just smile and say thanks next time you come across lousy service. It is most likely because of horrible Icelandic bosses in the industry.
