Around fifteen years ago, in my old office (Air Force, and here in Germany), I had a guy stop by and start a conversation. He'd been in Germany four years...assimilated a lot of culture and 'German' rules, and felt a need to unload....mostly on the idea of protocol.
In his mind, there were at least 15,000 standards or rules that he had collect and remember. Course, we being military folks....were used to the idea of protocol. But to him...this whole thing was going to an extreme. He pulled a folder and had around fifteen traffic or speeding tickets. Since arriving four years prior....he and his wife had collected a fair sum. Some were parking tickets (the lack of a wheel displayed), and several were speeding tickets. He'd contributed well over a thousand dollars of fines in local currency by that point.
The plain truth is that most Germans would stand and admit that they live by absolute protocols and yes, there are probably 25,000 things which must be adhered to....to survive in Germany.
Yesterday, it came up in the news and I sat there analyzing it for a while.
Up in north Germany....some older woman....retiree-type, was traveling via regional train. She'd been shopping and returning to her home-village.
About a minute away from arrival....the ticket-audit folks arrived in the cabin. "Tickets, please."
The old gal didn't want to miss her get-off-point, and basically stood there to ask that they exit the train as it pulled in....and she'd happily show her ticket.
Off she stepped, with the two guys.
Well....the door closed and they proceeded to whip out the fine paperwork for 60 Euro and failure to pay. She shows them the ticket, but as they say.....when they enter the cabin, you MUST show the ticket. The protocol says that if they exit the train, you have no choice but to pay the fine.
She argued a while but obviously, they didn't switch their thinking. Angry? Yes. Her alternate position was to stand there and fumble through to find the ticket, while the door closed and the train left....taking her the next village, and some drama on how to return back to the right point.
It's protocol.
Germans are that way.
If you were looking for a plan "B" society....this isn't it.. Maybe the Russians or the Brits are better suited for getting around the rules or protocol, but for Germans, it's simply a way of life. This is why the drink deposit gimmick works here....or why recycling functions so well....or why customs guy at the airport is so through about the items you bring in.
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