Some of my non-German colleagues joke about the cheapness of the Germans. Perhaps due to moments like when one tipped 20 cents to the waitress after a night of drinking and good service from the waitress. The Brits and Americans, of course, tipped her more upon seeing that one. Bar staff aside, I see it more as--Germans pay for the quality which they seek. Germans pay big bucks for a BMW or Mercedes, but 2,99 for a bunch of flowers seems appropriate as flowers are only good for a week anyway, so unless you're a flowers expert, the basic quality will do.
Last week, at Rewe, I bought a bag of salad which was marked 1,79. It rang up at 1,89. I, of course, demanded my 10 cents there. If I want to donate money to someone, it won't be the to the management of Rewe. The checkout lady looked at the item and the price, at my slip, and just gave me the 10 cents back. I wasn't expecting an apology, this is Germany, after all. And, as it is Germany, I was willing to stand there and block her lane until I got my 10 cents back. So I imagine she ate the shortage as it was under her threshold and not worth the hassle to get a manager.
Again this week, something rang up wrong. I was sitting on the fence about buying coconut milk as it's much cheaper in the Asian supermarket. However, I had no plans to be in Leverkusen (my closest one), so I decided to suck it up and pay the 1,09 for 200 ml. Except when it rang up at 1,29. I had thought that perhaps I saw something incorrectly, so I went back to the aisle to check. Sure enough, it was 1,09. There are never employees or managers around Rewe, nor is there a customer service desk, only a raised platform with one way mirrors where I'm guessing they watch the customers and staff via hidden cameras. So I slid the little paper off of the shelf and brought it back with me to the same checkout line as previously.
H: This price, it is wrong. (holding the receipt and the tag).
Checkout lady: Did you take this sign from the shelf? (no mention of the price being wrong or any sort of apology.)
H: (knowing full well that she is trying to divert the focus from the 'wrongness' of the price to the 'wrongness' of me removing their little sign) Yes exactly, this is the price which was wrong on the shelf!
CL: (knowing that the ignorant foreigner is backing up her line and it's Friday night and the ignorant foreigner is not admitting wrongness). You're not supposed to take the sign from the shelf.
H: (louder and pointing) The price. It is wrong! I bought this. (fishing said coconut milk from bag.)
CL: (loud sign and eyes rolling, reaches into her cash drawer and slams 20 cents onto the change area, no apology, nothing. And she kept my receipt with the little sign.)
I can't really blame Germany for this cheapness, I arrived with that one. However, five years ago I would have been flummoxed in the same situation. Two years ago I still would have been polite. To Germany I owe thanks for making me a lot more pushy, agressive, and loud.
Good Lord am I going to need to unlearn some behaviors toot sweet in the UK.
P.S. Why did I even go to Rewe on a Friday evening? My favorite frozen pizza is on sale, save 50 cents each. Good deal. The sale ends on Saturday night and they tend to run out of the decent ones by Saturday afternoon. Or maybe they're trying to clear out the stock of the less favorite varietes, who knows.
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4 comments:
Your posts are so funny! I love it.
My mom is German (born and raised there until she came to the US for college). She is aggressive and loud (but only when necessary - and it seems like you've become the same. How is that a bad thing?), but she's never been cheap. My dad (an American) has always been the cheap one.
I had no idea that there was a "cheap" stereotype attached to Germans! I'll have to talk to her about it and see what she thinks.
Sunflowers: Will be interested to hear what she thinks. :-)
And loud and aggressive is not naturally within my nature. It requires energy, effort and concentration to create, therefore I find it unbecoming in myself. Vs. the Germans who grow up with it as second nature sometimes, so be it.
She was offended! Eek. She very honestly thought the characterization was off-base, and then wanted to know where in Germany you resided (said something along the lines of "maybe it's true in east Germany...")
I'll have to visit Germany and see for myself. ;)
Sunflowers: offended, oops! or maybe it's small town Germany. ;-)
and yes, you definitely need to see for yourself.
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