Can I have a cappuccino with my goat's milk please?

This request is met with a wide range of responses, but the answer is usually yes. In fact the only place that could have done it but wouldn't was the deli in Bandon and they wouldn't even let me buy a black coffee and put my goat's milk in it myself if I was going to drink it on the premises! Needless to say, I have not been back since. Anyway, the reason for the blog post was not to winge but to make an observation as I sit here in Costa Coffee at the motorway service station near Taunton. I think I can see a difference between the UK and Ireland when it comes to paying. I have no problem in paying the full amount for my coffee. It's not a lot of money and the coffee shop has to cover their overheads. But interestingly, the British sense of fair play has often meant they have charged me much less for my coffee! A gut feel would suggest I pay full price about 85% of the time in Ireland and only 40% of the time in the UK. I look forward to trying this experiment in other countries, though it will require me learning a bit more than 'Do you speak English' in the requisite language!