I noticed that customers were very friendly and showed their fullest respect to me. One the other hand, most of my American colleges, who were also waiters, never felt that their work is lower compared to white-collars. However, It isn't the case in China. Most Chinese seems only show respect to people with high-end job. At the same time, many waiters and other low income workers in China accept such unequal social status.
In my opinion, such phenomena is caused by the culture and history. As we know, US is a country in which individual human right is highly valued. On the other hand, although China on the way to democracy, the deep rooted hierarchy idea hasn't been extirpated completely due to the long history of feudal dynasty.
Understanding the culture difference and the reason is very important to facilitate communication and enhance relationship between people from difference culture.
