Ubiquity

Having spent considerable time in Germany now, I feel myself somewhat qualified to comment on the features of the people that I see most frequently: in short, their ubiquitous characteristics.

First on the list is their propensity for bicycle riding. It seems every German, from toddlers (yes!) to the elderly, rides a bicycle, and the cities have accommodated them by paving special sidewalks (or are the siderides or sidepedals) for the particular use of the cyclists. It is very important to be aware of these sidepedals because someone can come zooming by out of nowhere putting you in danger. Furthermore, the Germans have adapted their bicycles to suit any and all their travel needs. It is rare to see a bicycle without a basket or shelf on either the front and/or back to carry backpacks, groceries, and purchases. Another common option is the trailer. These are attached to the rear wheel and extend behind to bike. Mostly, I’ve seen them to carry children, but there are others for carrying things besides small persons. The child toting trailers have canvas walls with plastic windows, and the kids sit back there lounging while mom or dad pedals away up front, never looking fatigued, which brings me to my next observation.

Contrary to popular belief, in Germany you will not find large busted, rotund women named Helga, or equally large, potbellied men named Hans. Perhaps these stereotypes are drawn from the knowledge that Germans drink on average, multiple pints of beer a day. This is not the case, as most Germans are very fit, or at least slender looking. The overweight German is rare to be seen.

Perhaps the lack of obese Germans is due in part to their propensity to smoke. Maybe the US would have less of an obesity problem if we stopped running all those anti-smoking ads, or if we exercised–definitely one of those two. They may not smoke where food is served, so the inside air is not usually smoky, but outside there are smokers everywhere: even in crowds. Recently, Joe and I were in a Christmas market jammed packed with people, and there were some smoking in the dense crowd. I was concerned that I would be bumped into their cigarettes or they would not be paying enough attention and cause me bodily harm: it’s happened before. This brings me to self-absorbedness–I’m making up words.

This trait actually can be attributed (in my opinion) to Europeans in general. They rarely seem to take into consideration how their actions (in public) will affect those around them. They walk in front of cars without stopping even to check if they are imperiling their lives. They walk in lines and monopolize the whole sidewalk, not making room for others. One woman ran my foot over with her stroller and did not even pause to look back or apologize: just kept right on walking. I know the report is out there that Americans are the rude ones, but in our experience, that has not been the case.

Luxury vehicles: I know I devoted an entire post to the cars already, but I want to emphasize a particular brand of large vehicles. In the states, there are many makers of semi-trucks, and fire trucks. My father will swear to it that E1 fire trucks are the best, but I promise, other brands do exist (if not in his eyes). In Germany, if you drive a large vehicle, it will be a Mercedes-Benz. The semis are Mercedes, the UPS trucks, and yes Dad, the fire trucks. They have completely corned the large vehicle market here.

Finally: beer–it’s everywhere, more common than water. This stems from the beer purity laws enacted centuries ago. Beer could only have certain ingredients: yeast, water, wheat, hops, and barely–nothing else. Water was not subjected to such purification standards, and as such, beer was safer to drink, and drink it they do. The taps in even the simplest establishment would put most places in the US to shame. Good beer can also be cheap beer–the two are not mutually exclusive.