I'm quite certain this is a cultural difference. What you find to be rude or inattentive is considered polite in some European countries. For a waiter to be appearing at the table often, unsummoned, is rude in Germany, for example.
If you want the waiter, so etiquette says, you'll summon him/her.
If you want the waiter, so etiquette says, you'll summon him/her.