How not to get fucked while screwing in Praha
Here are a few notes on things in Praha:
1) Cell phone chips -
My USA cingular cell phone service charges about 1.99 USD per minute for roaming charges when I use it in Praha. My solution was to buy a Vodaphone chip at the Vodaphone booth in the central train station for about 25 USD which included 25 USD of call credits. You can buy extra minutes at most small shops for $10 or $25 USD (but in Cz crowns) cards. If you are from the USA, you need to have a 'tri-band' GSM phone, the Nokia I use in the USA works fine with the Vodaphone chip.
Heres the kicker - the Vodaphone booth guys switched the chip for me, but I didn't realize they didn't give me back my Cingular chip til I got back to the USA and tried to switch it out. Then, there were $400 USD of extra calls on my Cingular bill, all to Czech numbers, from the days AFTER they kept my chip! Cingular removed the charges, but be carefull! This is the kind of shit that never happens to me in the USA, but is the kind of petty thievery you have to watch out for in Praha.
2) Driving in Praha -
You must have your headlights on at all times. I didn't know this, and got stopped by the Praha police. They looked at my passport, and let me go without a ticket after explaining the lights need to be on all the time. So, they were nicer than the Vodaphone guys!
I rented a Skoda from the rental agency 'Vecar', which goes under several names on the internet. Car was below average and they didn't give me all my money back when I returned it early, even though I called the day before to alert them. They claimed they didn't know I called. Also, the owner has his elderly mom do the paperwork, and she is a typically slow communist era babushka who loves documents and stamping things. Took me an hout to get a junk car. In the future, I will travel use a reputable company like Hertz at the airport.
In summary, many of the service industries in Czech republic have more surly / more dishonest people than in the USA. They will also expect dishonest behavior from you, for example, paying first for the girl at SP. Another example is bringing items you already purchased to a grocery store when you forgot or need a few more items. They will assume you stole it, and the check out person may say its "not normal" but let it slide. In the USA, they take your word for it.
Paying first, paying after
In fact, I remember that in K5 you pay all (ladies , drinks) after.
More general about paying first/paying after :
1) There are "big" organizations with their own paying system (like K5) : what you consume is recorded in your "account" and when you leave the house your account will be converted into "official" money.
2) For most of other houses : you pay first.
Sometimes, if you are regular clients you may pay after (if the "risk" is not so high : for example, if you ask for an one-hour meeting nobody will ask you to pay first but if you ask for 2-hours meeting you will have to pay first).
Other situations : you ask for one-hour meeting, but after 55 minutes, you want to extend the duration of your meeting : some ladies may ask you to pay first (for the extension) but many may let you pay after .
