As Kayla and I sat in the U-Bahn riding along to our next destination we were rudely confronted by a large German man. At first we were caught a little off guard due to the fact that we were just simply sitting there and spacing out. He kept pointing at the floor, then at the seat and then at us. He was speaking strictly German, which is totally acceptable considering we were in his, what I would assume, home country. More people began to notice what was going on and the tension was building. Others from our group were looking at us just as confused as we were. As the man went on for about 3 minutes as Kayla and I just sat there, not saying anything. After awhile we caught onto what this man was so distraught about: Kayla’s shoes touching the seat for a mere 30 seconds.
Although we knew that this was a bad thing to do, it wasn’t on purpose and in no way did it deserve a German scolding. Not only did we not understand what he was saying but his attitude about the whole thing was completely unnecessary. He definitely belittled us and I personally hate that feeling. Not only was it not fair, but also super confusing. We appreciate the German culture but not the verbal embarrassment.
1 comment:
Interesting experience! Germans pay a lot of taxes (50% of their income) and since the infrastructure is paid for by tax euros, we are extremely protective of the "common good." Now you know why I'm the only professor in the j-school asking students to please take their feet off the leather couches. Europeans don't want to sit on a seat that may have been soiled by shoes. I know this is difficult to understand for Americans but much of the world wouldn't accept shoes on coffee tables, seats, beds, etc. (especially in Asia and the Arab world).
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