Unfair stereotypes of Germans

[horseshoe7 270]

That hard-working bit doesn't seem to exist anymore, as i think most germans are lazy. that said, they get 5-6 weeks holidays a year, frown upon overtime, and yet have europe's biggest economy and is generally high up there on the list in the world.

 

so actually i ask myself what are the north americans doing? few holidays, pressure to work overtime, and what gets done?

 

so in that sense, i guess lazy people are efficient, though that goes against everything i've seen, like wanting to waste time discussing every little detail, and so on.

 

stereotypes of germans - emotionally retarded robots who don't know how to hit a curveball.

[sweetsilence 359]

 

That hard-working bit doesn't seem to exist anymore, as i think most germans are lazy. that said, they get 5-6 weeks holidays a year, frown upon overtime, and yet have europe's biggest economy and is generally high up there on the list in the world.

Lazy? Tsk! We only don't have to work overtime/get 5-6 weeks holidays, because we're soooo efficient :D

[Expaticus 752]

 

If the allotments I see round here are anything to go by, that is complete bollocks. Your anti-German obsession really does result in you posting some unadulterated pish.

I ride along a long string of these Kleingarten on the train most days. On average, about a quarter of the ground space is occupied by a huge garden shed with a satellite dish on top, against which are leaned old snow tires and rusted sheets of corroguated metal. Most are uncontaminated by actual vegetation other than weeds.

 

I don't have an "anti-German obsession". I call them as I see them. However, it appears as though self-loathing British people living in Germany hypersensitive to any negative observations about the place are developing an obsession with my writing style. Unless you're just "taking the piss" or talking "shite", kindly get off my "arse".

[bagatelle 25]

 

That hard-working bit doesn't seem to exist anymore, as i think most germans are lazy. that said, they get 5-6 weeks holidays a year, frown upon overtime, and yet have europe's biggest economy and is generally high up there on the list in the world.

I wonder who still has 5 - 6 weeks holidays? Never had that since I left school in 1969. I can stretch my 26 days with some public holidays, but that's it. My daughter has 30 days, but she works for a quasi governmental company and is a rare exception. Actually for the first time in my life I do not work overtime everyday. In former years I never used up my 26 days and worked about 50 - 60 hours a week in each and every job I ever had. I am no rocket scientist, just a regular secretary / PA. Talking about unfair stereotypes...

[Dr. Love 63]

So you base your prejudice that the whole country has "glorified junkyards" gardens on a tiny blur besides of an Autobahn and railroad tracks. Well done.

 

If it is bad (town, people, culture etc.) where you live -> get out there and live somewhere in Germany where it is nice and you will be sort of happy.

The place is diverse.

 

Also I like to add bagels was never a popular bread product in Germany. It is practically unknown in Germany since centuries.

It is popular in North America and Britain.

The name bagel is derived from the Yiddish language (beugel/beugal) and Austrian jews 'invented' the bread, popular among mainly Ashkenazi jews.

 

FYI with the jewish community in Germany now the fastest growing community in the world you have more of a chance to get a beugel.

[jonnymayo 64]

One thing that has baffled me since I have come here is a glaring inconsistency in their stereotype of „Ordnung“.

You see it people’s interactions with the state and surroundings, but not when it comes to interactions with each other.

 

A tangent on this is that most Germans (from my perspective) believe that their day should run 100% unhindered. And any infringement on their idea of how it should run for them is met with a “how dare you” attitude.

However when someone jumps a queue, nobody says anything.

I cannot understand what is going through the head of a person that goes simply to the head of a queue and really believes that he has the right to be served first.

Also that he actually gets served by the staff baffles me, they know who is next.

 

That is the best example of unfitting stereotype I can think of.

But it happens too often for it to be considered as “well every country has got assholes.

I would love an answer on this, especially from some of our German TT’ers.

[Krieg 15,112]

 

I wonder who still has 5 - 6 weeks holidays? Never had that since I left school in 1969. I can stretch my 26 days with some public holidays, but that's it. My daughter has 30 days, but she works for a quasi governmental company and is a rare exception. Actually for the first time in my life I do not work overtime everyday. In former years I never used up my 26 days and worked about 50 - 60 hours a week in each and every job I ever had. I am no rocket scientist, just a regular secretary / PA. Talking about unfair stereotypes...

I have 30 days, with the possibility to get 35.

[dessa_dangerous 13,315]

 

Berliners wear a lot of existentialist black, berets and scarves around their necks. They want to be seen as 'intellectual'.

when's the last time you were here? I don't know if I've seen a single beret in the last three years. Now all the Cool Kids are putting patterns with stripes, wearing neon tights and dayglo sunglasses. there's nothing intellectual about looking like you got dressed in the dark.

 

 

Why no AC? waste not electricty! It costs money; a very simple explanation.

and an accurate one, too. I hear of all sorts of creature comforts that must be eschewed because they "cost money". I don't live in the first world for nothing.

 

 

But it happens too often for it to be considered as “well every country has got assholes.

i think it all goes back to uninvolvement in public. they might grumble to themselves and each other, but actually speaking out is, for whatever reason, not an option. I have spoken up a million times about this sort of thing, and the offender just looks at me like "are you crazy"? And I have to look at him like "you ain't seen crazy yet."

[westvan 9,706]

 

I wonder who still has 5 - 6 weeks holidays?

My husband does.

[Chocky 1,223]

 

so actually i ask myself what are the north americans doing? few holidays, pressure to work overtime, and what gets done?

That's basically the Anglo-Saxon working model, it's the same in the UK. The endless process of filing reports.

[nina_glyndwr 4,748]

The kind of thing that Expaticus describes can be found near the Noerdlicher Zubringer in D'dorf. There are some like that. I *think* it is more a place for bikers. Big hairy ones.

 

But most Kleingarten cost too much to let go to wrack and ruin. And there are also too many rules which, if not adhered to, could get the person kicked out from the association.

 

Dess... The last time I was in Berlin was 8 December, celebrating Omi's 100th birthday.

 

I was just painting a broad picture. I noticed this difference sitting in airport lounges waiting to go back to either D'dorf or Berlin about 10 years ago. There really is a difference .. okay.. was a difference (although i think it still exists) between D'dorfers and Berliners sartorial style.

 

I have one friend down in the Saarbruecken region who says that "She dresses like a Dusseldorfer secretary" is a phrase that is understood by many there.

 

I think we should remember that all statements can only be partially true.

 

We Welshies, for example, are not all thieves.

[leeza 1,895]

 

I wonder who still has 5 - 6 weeks holidays?

I *only* get 25 days (plus all Bavarian holidays) and I feel hard done by because most people I know get 30. But at our firm we get three "freebie" days - Faschings Dienstag, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Those don't get taken off our vacation days and are not official holidays.

[kato 3,560]

... I get 24. Or i would by my contract if i'd have a fulltime position.

[hams 1,387]

30 days for moi :)

[Clapoti 65]

For moi too.

[Carm 74]

35 days! :ph34r:

[bandida 64]

 

anyone with any "get up and go" got up and went ... to the US,

As did anyone with any common sense whatsoever...

[bandida 64]

 

I wonder who still has 5 - 6 weeks holidays? Never had that since I left school in 1969. I can stretch my 26 days with some public holidays, but that's it. My daughter has 30 days,

Assuming a 5-day work week, your 26 days amount to 5 weeks plus one day, your daughter's 30 days to 6 weeks, so both of you are in the 5-6 weeks range.

 

Not everyone gets 5-6 weeks though. I got 15 days back in the days when I lived in Germany and had thought this to be normal, or was this some kind of scam? :huh:

[RoyceF 34]

I am not sure how many of these are unfair, but there are quite a few to add to the debate here: This is Why You're German

[TekNoa 19]

Oh boy, what a laugh! More than half of these perfectly apply to me, RoyceF :°D