Observations in Germany - Part II

The Miraculous German Grocery Store Que

This is definitely not unique to Germany, but it is something I notice happening a lot more here than in other places. Let me explain. Say you're standing in line with 7 other people at the grocery store and are in the only checkout lane open. You're standing, waiting, perusing the tiny bottles of liquor at the checkout stand as more and more people pile up behind you. You've been waiting for approximately 10 minutes and still are buried deep in the line. Suddenly, the checkout next to you opens up. What happens? The last person in line, the person who has only been waiting for 15 seconds, runs - and I literally mean runs - over to the newly opened checkout while the person that was in front of them waiting for, oh, I don't know, maybe 40 seconds, fills in behind them. As you stand there, pissed that these people have essentially 'taken cuts', you watch them merrily pay for their goods and leave the store while you are still standing and waiting, while four others are still in front of you. The miraculous part about this is that nobody ever gets upset when this occurs, as if it's a part of life in Germany that one must accept to get by. "Hey, today maybe wasn't my day, but by golly, tomorrow it could possibly be ME that gets to cut in front of everyone else! Oh Joy!"

Yes, this is a big pet peeve of mine and always has been. In America, I would speak up when I saw something like this happen, usually being my smart-ass self to make the point. Most people usually got the hint and would shuffle to the back of the line where they belonged. However, I'm not quite so vocal here in Germany as I am a visitor and most people in my tiny town know it. No use in being the a-hole Ami, so I just accept it as another cultural quirk and move on. After three years here, it doesn't quite grate on me like it used to, but I still find it a valid issue to highlight about living here. It does catch most newcomers by surprise!

I was going to make an animation displaying exactly what I'm talking about, but instead, I made the animation below which was much more fun to create. It really has no point, but I was bored and tired and it gave me something to do. The video is a bit small, so click HERE for a larger version.