What's got you flummoxed today?

[john g. 33,494]

Day and night v Germany here in Greece, optimista! You can say hello and ask a question to anyone at a table even if you don´t know them. Ok, usual pleasantries but it flows...and you normally find out someone knows Giorgios whom you bring up as your carpenter or Maria, who is your lawyer or the uncle is your neighbour´s cousin...relatively small population on Crete and everybody knows someone you know.

 

They don´t do the " keep your distance " even at the doc´s...first names are no problem..no Herr Doktor Frau Professor stuff here.

You go to the doc..and it´s " jassou, Michaelis " or whatever.

 

The sense of privacy is different.. 

 

[john g. 33,494]

On 12/18/2019, 11:05:05, Kommentarlos said:

 

FTFY

 

Why the need to mock?

I mock myself as well, Kommentarlos. It is the best way to survive..it is not easy telling people you work in insurance. You are often quickly classified as some monster gangster/thief etc. 

The best: tell people there are two things you do if you can´t do anything else: teach English and flog insurance!

 I have had the dishonour of doing both for decades!

In ANY job involving dealing with the public ie fellow human beings, you need a " human personality " ie you can joke around and equally be competent and professional. Who wants to deal with a sleeping tablet in your business life?

 

[Sannerl 1,185]

2 hours ago, optimista said:

I think I have been flummoxed about this one before. The Germanic method of (not) socialising with strangers. You find yourself at a table with people you ain't never seen before and probably never will again. They make NO attempt at conversation. You are not allowed to ASK them anything about themselves, because this is deemed indiscreet. That leaves politics, religion and the weather. Well the first two are also off limits in some cultures... how do people ever get to know each other?

 

BS. You just met the wrong people.

 

I'm German. My husband is German/French with roots back to Algeria/Morocco/Spain from his mother's side.

No  "Fremdeln" whatsoever here.

 

And look at your use of terms: "Germanic"? Hello? Prejudice much yourself?

 

I'm flummoxed.

[RedMidge 6,060]

1 hour ago, Sannerl said:

 

BS. You just met the wrong people.

 

I'm German. My husband is German/French with roots back to Algeria/Morocco/Spain from his mother's side.

No  "Fremdeln" whatsoever here.

 

And look at your use of terms: "Germanic"? Hello? Prejudice much yourself?

 

I'm flummoxed.

Agree! I find I have chatty sessions with people at the bakery or cheese counter as well. Often others ask where my accent is from, and we get chatting. Same in restaurants-  does not take much to get the "klatsch" going!

Showing an interest in people is the key.

[bramble 8,805]

12 hours ago, optimista said:

I think I have been flummoxed about this one before. The Germanic method of (not) socialising with strangers. You find yourself at a table with people you ain't never seen before and probably never will again. They make NO attempt at conversation. You are not allowed to ASK them anything about themselves, because this is deemed indiscreet. That leaves politics, religion and the weather. Well the first two are also off limits in some cultures... how do people ever get to know each other?

 

This just isn't true. I speak to strangers out and about quite often and a little chit-chat - even personal stuff - has always been welcome. You just seem to not like Germans much and it probably shows. Anyway, nowadays one doesn't even know whether the people you meet are "Germanic" at all. They may look "Germanic" but many reveal to have roots in Russia, Poland, Romania etc. once one gets to know them. 

[optimista 4,602]

12 hours ago, Sannerl said:

You just met the wrong people

 

And look at your use of terms: "Germanic"?

Or... it's me ... but blood and stones, an' all that.

What would you like to call the people in the Alsace, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland? Germanic is not pejorative in my mind.

[SpiderPig 9,616]

11 hours ago, RedMidge said:

 does not take much to get the "klatsch" going!

 

The "Clap"?  

[Metall 13,086]

15 hours ago, optimista said:

I think I have been flummoxed about this one before. The Germanic method of (not) socialising with strangers. You find yourself at a table with people you ain't never seen before and probably never will again. They make NO attempt at conversation. You are not allowed to ASK them anything about themselves, because this is deemed indiscreet. That leaves politics, religion and the weather. Well the first two are also off limits in some cultures... how do people ever get to know each other?

 

Actually, the Germans I know absolutely LOVE talking about politics and the weather. Religion is not off limits, but not very interesting for mostly secular people.

However, I do agree that if either side already has formed an opinion of the other, then it gets difficult. Have seen that in both older and young people, even within my company (for example, if you're not a developer, most of them won't talk to you etc.).

[Sannerl 1,185]

33 minutes ago, optimista said:

Or... it's me ... but blood and stones, an' all that.

What would you like to call the people in the Alsace, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland? Germanic is not pejorative in my mind.

 

Humans.

 

 

[French bean 3,076]

1 hour ago, Metall said:

 

Actually, the Germans I know absolutely LOVE talking about politics and the weather. Religion is not off limits, but not very interesting for mostly secular people.

However, I do agree that if either side already has formed an opinion of the other, then it gets difficult. Have seen that in both older and young people, even within my company (for example, if you're not a developer, most of them won't talk to you etc.).

I briefly mentioned to a German friend about non voluntary  Euphanasia, she later said to my wife that I was weird for raising such a subject and it isn't really the done thing to talk about it in Germany. So not everything is off limits.

[bramble 8,805]

2 hours ago, optimista said:

What would you like to call the people in the Alsace, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland? 

 

Not just them, but almost everyone in Europe apparently. Even yourself probably. You forgot Scandinavia, from whence Germanic people orginated.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_peoples

 

2 hours ago, optimista said:

Germanic is not pejorative in my mind.

 

But it comes across as such because you only ever mention Germanic or Teutonic in a negative sense. 

[HEM 9,714]

On 19.12.2019, 06:27:36, dj_jay_smith said:

This is no different to the people who move next to an airport and then complain about the noise!

 

Not only with airports - also with small airfields "As soon as the weather is good there are all these planes buzzing around".

 

When I lived in the UK I was a member of a model flying club.  We were flying model gliders on a famer's field when some

bloke turned up complaining about the noise "just like a mowing machine".  The cause was his neighbour's mowing machine.

 

Quote

I mean, how the hell did they miss a Jumbo flying over the house every 3-5 minutes when they visited the place?

It is of course possible that when they visited the wind was from another direction with different take-off & approach routes.

However since Gatwick is a single runway airport you are likely to get the noise from one or the other.

 

[optimista 4,602]

On 21/12/2019, 11:07:14, Sannerl said:

Humans.

Highly descriptive. Political correctness kicking in?

[Sannerl 1,185]

10 minutes ago, optimista said:

Highly descriptive. Political correctness kicking in?

 

No.

 

Why the hostility?

[john g. 33,494]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY7WsYdBv4A&feature=youtu.be

 

I have just finished watching this TV interview of a woman whose daughter and grandchild were murdered by her son-in-law in Germany a couple of years ago.

She tells the story of an Algerian man who married her daughter. All was well. Then came the child. Then came even more the unravelling of his narcissism, And his treatment of his wife.

Ok, then he murdered his wife and child.

It came out in the press. " Algerian kills wife and child" etc

 

And what does this lady in the interview also remember? Some women readers of the newspaper report hardly mentioned how horrific it was for this lady and her daughter and grandchild but the fact that the newspaper had mentioned the perp was Algerian! Though he was..." racist newspaper etc"..

Oh come on, this is PC gone mad.

[optimista 4,602]

23 hours ago, Sannerl said:

Why the hostility?

Menopausal PMT? If indeed coming back is hostile... (in times of yore they used to lock up middle-aged, hysterical nymphos - who liked to have the last word - in high towers... it was probably just the menopause)

[Sannerl 1,185]

16 minutes ago, optimista said:

Menopausal PMT? If indeed coming back is hostile... (in times of yore they used to lock up middle-aged, hysterical nymphos - who liked to have the last word - in high towers... it was probably just the menopause)

 

I rest my case.

[optimista 4,602]

I don't think you get it.

[john g. 33,494]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50942664

 

Terrible news of an armed man shooting people in a church.

What got me flummoxed? A new law in Texas allowing gun owners to enter a place of worship with a gun. Jeez..😟

[Rushrush 227]

10 hours ago, john g. said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50942664

 

Terrible news of an armed man shooting people in a church.

What got me flummoxed? A new law in Texas allowing gun owners to enter a place of worship with a gun. Jeez..😟

Lots of commenters say “ha proof guns save lives” forgetting that it was a trained security guard on hand. Not so sure random people shooting would have helped