I am German and I try to comment some of our German "oddities" :-) 1. Toilet paper: You bought the expensive one, probably also 4 layers thick. Buy the cheaper one, 3-layers thick, that isn't perfumed. I would never buy the perfumed one but some people like it, Iguess. 2. Stroller "carport": I have never seen such before. But it makes sense: Most parents bring their kids by foot from the near neighborhood to the kindergarten and leave their stroller until the afternoon in that shelter, protected by rain and sun. 3. After work party: It is mostly just a marketing name to get customers already in the late afternoon and early evening. Most Germans don't do after work partys a lot, because they are tired after work and just want to get home to the family. 4. Sunday closing: It comes from the bibel and cristian culture, where God rested on the 7th day of his creation. As Germany was (an most likely still is) a Christian nation, we keep that idea also for our people to get a day of faith, rest, recreation and as a family day. I am always wondering, why Americans think that is strange, as they are much more Christian, at least on the surface. But greed of profit seems to more important if you look deeper into American society. Hypocritical! 5. Vacation/less work time: It is a law in Germany, that you are not allowed to work more then 40 hours a week. It can be more, if the company has a good reason, for example seasonal work. But then you must get more money or you can have more free days at some other month of the year. In average over a year, you are not allowed to work more then 40 hours a week. And yes, even we work less hours than Americans we have the same productivity or even higher. Just wasting time by having more hours of presence at company does not mean, you are productive. Recreation is a very important factor to be highly productive. 6. Shopping carts: You got it! It is more effectively, because people will bring the cart back by themselfes instead of leaving it somewhere. And you don't need an extra person to collect all carts. German efficiency. 7. Own bags and bagging: Of course bring your own bag. It is better for the environment and saves money. Why not having a small bag always with you? Are Americans so lazy or mental disadvantaged to bag their own stuff? No wonder, that with this attidude in every situation of life, people in the US are getting fatter and fatter. 8. Bathrooms: You only pay for public toiletts, for example on the Autobahn, who are managed by extra companies. And mostly it is not a duty only wish by the toilett cleaner. So if you don't pay, you feel bad, but you won't get into jail :-) Many public toiletts have entrance machine nowadays. You won't get into them until you have payed. In restaurants it must be free by law.
The part abot 40 hours a week is just plain wrong. you are allowed an average of 8 hours/"werkstag" which is every day except sunday and holidays. so it's 48 hours/week
Most people don't work on saturday. Most people work from monday to friday, which are 5 day * 8 hours = 40 hour weeks. If you work on saturday, for example as hairdresser, you have a free monday mostly. Employment contracts with 48 hours a week are rare, however it would be legal. So Drizzt1990 ist correct but you won't find many people that work 48 hours a week by contract, because most employment contracts contain a 40 hour deal from monday to friday.
Elena Bell: Maybe. But it is my opinion. Or the truth, or both. Since I have lived in the U.S. I might be able to compare and point out some "American ways of life" in relation to Germany :-D Sorry, if that offended you.
By law up to 60 hours a week is OK (that is actually an EU regulation), however, yes, most contracts include up to 40 only. Management position jobs are not regulated and usually do not work by the hour, so 60 to 80 hours a weeks is certainly possible and in some companies expected. Sundays off originally stems from the christian religion, but has been part of the german social development for quite some time, remember that some very basic rights for workers were already established during the historical german empire, most notably influenced by Bismarck with the laws concerning workers health insurance, workers accident insurance, and insurance for retirement and invalidity (1881). In the Weimar Republic, 1919, the first general law about working hours for workers was established that regulated the working day to 8 hours (which was later opened to 10 and 12 hours again). Sundays off was the norm, as said, due to religious demands, however, it became part of union contracts as early as 1900, and in 1956 the five day workweek became the norm, and resulting from that the 40 hour normal working time per week. Some industries even went as low as 38,5 or even 35 hours per week. Volkswagen was famous for its 4 day workweek (28,8 hours) which they had for quite a few years, it was introduced in 1994 to prevent laying off 30.000 workers, only in 2010 did they increase the working time again and nowadays they have 35 hours which can increase (with extra paid overtime) to 40 hours. On a different note, i work for a british company with a german contract and have a 5 day workweek, however as we do work on weekends we have more days off, so my usual pattern is working 5 days early, then 3 days off, then 5 days working late and another 4 days off. While 4 weeks vacation is the minimum (i believe it is by now an EU regulation), many have 5 or 6 weeks of paid vacation per year
In an US walmart i once bought a pear. The young lady cashier, who was standing, managed to put her arm on the scales, resulting in a pear weight of more than 3 lbs. I told her and got the feeling that she did not understand how weighing actually works.
Re: the chained-up shopping carts. It's quite simple, customers who have to leave a deposit for a cart will most likely bring it back instead of leaving it on the parking lot or taking their groceries home with it... so the supermarkets don't have to hire staff to constantly collect and bring back the carts (and the carts won't get lost anywhere else...). Just a matter of cost efficiency - that's actually one of the reasons groceries in general are cheaper than e.g. in the US.
Makes good sense to me! I have a small pickup truck, and when I find shopping carts abandoned around town, I stop, load them up, and return them to their respective stores-the record was >5 km (3 mi) away. Years ago, one of my first jobs was as a "courtesy clerk" at a grocery store, bagging groceries and loading them in customers' cars. I never forgot that in the training, they made the point that (45 years ago) each cart was worth $400! It's theft to take them off the premises.
1. Depending on how much money u wanna spend for your toilet paper u can get more quality toilet paper 2. German People actually care about environment, Leasing a car is not so common for Germans, its more affordable if u buy one ! Also the transportation system of Germany is one of the best and very well connected! 3. NO WORK ON SUNDAY 🙅🏻♀️(religious background) occasionally there will be one or two opened Sunday’s during the year u can look it up for the region ur living in ! 4. Working in the US most of the companies don’t even set contracts with the employees over the conditions of the work. U literally can leave whenever u want. In Germany there are no jobs without contracts even if it is a mini job, this is the more secure way for both parties ! 5. A Germans best friend is the dog 🐕! 6. You are not paying for a shopping cart 🛒, u are leasing it for ur shopping experience and giving it back after ur done ! It’s not craziness, it’s smart and they won’t get stolen ! 7. Bringing your own bag makes you a more responsible person and apparently saving our environment from more plastic it don’t need ! Being hired specifically for putting your groceries in the bag and moving shopping cart I mean how much more lazy can one get ! Germans do not support a mentality where people are being made lazy by these kind of jobs ! 8. IF u pee in public and get caught by the police u will receive a punishment where u have to pay up to 100 €
all restrooms in restaurants are free.. they have to offer free toilets by law.. paying some person who sits in the restroom with a little plate in front of them is not mandatory. people just try to "guilt" you into leaving money there, because you might feel bad just walking by... at the end of the day the cleaning personal gets their regular wage - just like baggers in US stores - and you dont need to tip them.. its also often the case, that this tipping money goes to the owner of the restaurant/business and not actually to the cleaning staff there are also free public toilets - many gas stations for example have free restrooms - but throughout the cities they are generally rare.. at other public places like train stations you have to pay... but to make it short: as soon as a place sells open drinks (drinks in glasses, instead of cans for example), or offers a specific amount of seats, they are forced, by law, to offer free restrooms.. there are some exceptions when it comes to stuff like "imbissbuden" (snack stands??) or very small places but in general restaurants have to offer free restrooms
No, they're not beggars. Toilet cleaners have to buy all the agents, only get paid minimum wage and have sometimes really bad working hours (like at night). So don't be an asshole and give them a tip.
+Sualtam lmao.. i don't know in which country you live, but you for sure did not describe germany... "the cleaning personal has to buy their own stuff.." did not read something that stupid in quite some time btw: no one said something about beggars.. learn to read and then google what the difference between a BEGGAR and a BAGGER is.. wait let me help you: a BEGGAR is someone who sits on the street and asks for money, a BAGGER on the other hand is someone who has a job - most often minimum wage - and PACKS your stuff in your bag.. it's a very common thing in the USA.. just like it is common to not give BAGGERs tips, because like cleaning personal in germany they get their regular wage and not such low amounts like waiters in america... so why does the cleaner deserve tips, but the bagger does not? what about the tips of the million low wage workers in factories and warehouses? also as i have already said: most of the time the cleaning personal is not allowed to keep the tips.. you can do a simple test: just try to give them the money instead of placing it on the plate, 99% of them will deny taking the money directly, because it isn't their money and if the owner of the business would find out that they took the money it would be stealing.. let me quote something out of a verdict in which was decided that "toilettenfrauen/männer" are regular cleaning personal and that they have to get normal wages: _Betrug gegenüber dem Toilettennutzer_ _Doch die Entscheidung ist noch weitreichender: Das Landessozialgericht sieht im Vorgehen der Betriebe einen "Betrug gegenüber dem Toilettennutzer und Trinkgeldspender". Wer ein Trinkgeld zahlt, geht davon aus, dass das Geld direkt an die Reinigungskräfte geht. Doch meist müssten diese es vollständig an den Toilettenpächter weitergeben, so das Gericht._ so yeah, they get the same minimum wage like other cleaning personal, that doesn't sit right in front of you and whom you never think about.. people who clean schools, public buildings, office buildings.. what about their tips? tell me what about those people, they earn the same minimum wage.. but yeah, all of a sudden, if a shady employer places someone right in front of you, you discover your good heart and will get ripped of, cause the cleaning personal, in most cases, does not get to keep that money...
What about the toilet ladies in some (eg. Stuttgart Stadtmitte) McDonalds begging for change? I was so upset, as I had just spent 10 EUR for eating, and then there was that annoying woman. Of course I ignored her as I never would pay for toilet as a customer, but I believe many will pay as they feel too uncomfortable to just go by.
exactly. you dont have to pay them. the cleaning personal gets their regular wage and often the tips you leave dont go to the cleaning personal at all, but to the owner of the business. restaurants have to offer free restrooms and placing a person with a little plate in front of them in a restroom is just a shitty and shady tactic to make some more money, by guilting you into leaving a tip, cause you might feel bad simply walking by...
depends how you define public, but definitely not in the streets. in a small section of englischer garten (a famous park) in munich people can sunbathe naked, sometimes you can see women topless while being at the pool (not in the water), also at some places you can swim naked (lakes, beaches of baltic sea or on sylt). some pools also have special days/times/areas for swimming without clothes all year long
So cute.😊 Real story (own experience) The time Walmart started in (north) Germany they tryed to "install" the bagging bag thing here. But people here in north Germany felt so uncomfortable with that they complaint about it and after ~ 2 months Walmart stopped bagging bags for Germans.
Did they? maybe in select markets. All in all the manager of Walmart Germany tried to push US-style business practices and a shopping experience that clashed strongly with the locals, employees and customers - so Walmart disappeared from Germany completely. It's now a model case in business schools on what not to do when trying to get into foreign markets.
besides some strange "customs" that creep out customers and employees, they are said (at least that is what i have read) to also have tried practises like price dumping, exclusive deals with producers which would have made them dependent and later forced to accept any prices offered, etc, all either frowned upon, against union regulations (if they didn't "strongly discourage" people from having unions at all), or strictly illegal. when they couldn't use those "US-style business tactics" to legally keep profits high enough (to satisfy too high expectations of their owners) and still legally compete with german chains, they finally gave up. in germany (and europe), we have a "free market economy", but with certain legal restrictions and caps so that rights of employees and customers are guaranteed, not only currently, but also for the future, and thus eg prohibiting some mergers between big companies or to use a "big financial backer" for selling all items with a deficit only to cripple otherwise healthy (but less rich) competitors, and later be able to have monopolies and dictate prices after eliminating the competition.
"...you have to go to the bathroom a lot..." I don't agree on that point. Honestly, I can't even remember when I had to use a public toilet in the last 20 years. At least not the kind you have to pay for (or are "expected" to leave a tip), I did not count those e.g. when you're in a restaurant. I also don't know any German who uses public restrooms on a regular basis. Sundays are "family time". More people work on sundays as you might think. Just the shopping malls and bureaus will close, police, fire departements, hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes and so on, of course are open and there for you at any time. If you really need to buy something gas stations and kiosks are open, bakeries are open in the morning.... Most things for families and tourists are open. Museums not always but theme parks, restaurants, cafes etc pp Yes, the work-life-balance is a balance here. Most people work for living and not the other way around. 4 weeks vacation time is the minimum and your boss not just needs to give you 4 weeks, he/she also has to make sure you take it! You can't just take one or two weeks. On top everyone will get payed full salary up to 6 weeks a year if he/she is unable to work because of health problems/illnesses. Most people will have something around 6 weeks vacation per year, you'll find the 4 weeks mostly in jobs people just work temporarily or when someone doesn't have a "Ausbildung" (job education?) or qualification. Our usual working hours are 40-48 hours per week, distributed in 5-6 days. Which days from the seven and how many hours on what day, depends on your job and your contract. The minimum length of break times after a maximum hours of working are also dedicated by law.
People don't walk because they don't have a car, but because it is more convenient or reasonable to walk or use public transportation. In fact there's at least one car in almost every household, mostly two or three. There are more than sixtyfour million cars (without trucks and commercial vehicles) for a population of eighty millions - do the maths. But you do not have to use your car to come around in german towns and cities, so people leave their car at home or in a parking place and take a walk, a concept that seemingly appears strange to most americans. I once got the advice that it was way too far to walk from our motel to the town centre of Bar Harbour, Maine and that I had to use a cab: turned out it was about a mile and a half away. So we decided to walk back after having dinner in town and got stopped by a police car half the way back, demanding the answer what were our intentions, walking down the street in the evening 😂 The only places in the US where I found it accepted to walk were Manhattan, Washington D.C. and Downtown San Francisco. The weirdest thing were people driving with their car one mile to the gym to excercise 😉
30 years ago we had no coins in the carts. And the caretaker had to gather them from everywhere as they were spread all over the parking lot. So as this job was removed, we have cheaper groceries now.
Nun, in der Mainacht 1990 haben sich einige Jugendliche bei unserem Multi-Markt einen Scherz erlaubt und alle Wägen auf dem Parkplatz zu einem großen Kreis verbunden. So bekommt man seine Münze, 1DM, in dem Fall, sogar wieder zurück. :-) Kann natürlich sein, dass in anderen Gegenden das Münz-System erst später eingeführt wurde.
Everywhere at the parking lot? - They where everywhere in the City, in lakes, in rivers, between trees in the parks, everywhere rusty damaged shopping carts in walking distsance of the store and at the store itself you couldn't find some carts if you needed them. And sometimes when stelle prices rises again scrap metal merchants where seen very often in this areas shortly before all the carts where gone :-)
Ah, long time no see! Welcome back. Bathrooms in Restaurants are usually free. In fact, whenever you're a customer, you're usually granted free entry to the bathroom. Public bathrooms, e.g. in trainstations, will have a gate or some person sitting at the entrance expecting you to give 50 ct or 1 - 2 € . Shopping carts: once they where free, then some people started making chairs out of them or just dumped them somewhere. So the poor shopping carts got chained to each other to prevent them from being abused... Fake fire places are just there to look good and to brag. Oh, and it's not only men peeing in public. Girls just hide better. Waiting for part 2. Lists are to be finished.
Hahaha I'm dying 😭 "girls just hide better". The shopping cart issue is one us Americans have endured for years... I don't understand why no one else came up with the idea of chaining them together. Some stores have "alarms" on the shopping carts so if they are taken a certain distance from the store's entrance a siren is released 😅.
We, here in Belgium, have the same toilet paper. 😉 Afterwork parties are usual on Thursdays. Opens at 5 pm to 11pm or midnight or sometimes 1 am. On Sundays almost everything is closed in a lot of European countries. The other things you mentioned are just European things I guess. 😊😎
We have strong unions in Europe, they fight for higher wages. I don't say that people at the grocery store get enough but more than in other countries. So shops can't afford to employ people to collect carts or to pack bags.
4 weeks of paid vacation is the BARE minimum by law, most people I know have at least 25 days and many, like me, are having 30 days of paid vacation per year
20 days vacation? This is the mandatory minimum guaranteed by the government. Most people will have more. If you have a desired job with an union like IG Metal involved you will have 30 days and will get additional money for each day.
The ticket you get from public "bathroom" vendors usually contain some kind of printed coupon - especially when the "bathroom" is in a place that has shops nearbey like malls, train stations, and whatnot. You can often get a bit back by getting a small reduction in cost when you buy something there and hand in the bathroom ticket at the cashier.
Ok I'd just like to say that I'm German and I have never owned scented toilet paper nor have I ever been anywherwewhere they had it as far as I can remember
That seems to be the popular consensus on the scented toilet paper lol. I'm not sure what they have going on over at Netto, but apparently I'm the only person to have accidentally bought the stuff.
Haha I will look for it the next time I go to Netto. I've seen scented pads quite a lot,are those popular in the US? I don't think they're good for you tbh, I wouldn't buy them.
Oh my goodness the scented panty liners are the worst. I could make a rant video explaining why these should never be used, but I will save the internet from another silly video haha.
Talking about bagging: I live in Gemany and recently injured my leg, and a salesperson asked me, "Darf ich das für Sie einpacken?" "May I bag that for you?" There are really helpful people around over here, and of course I gladly accepted the offer, most of all because it came free of charge.
Thank you for your cordiality (i had to look that up). You live and learn. You find these closed down fireplaces mostly in older buildings, where the heating installation is modernized. So there should be a heating control anywhere around in your room (Zimmer). Again, i like your frankness.
Shopping carts would be left all over the place otherwise. Or even taken all the way home. That's why. By the way there is coin dummies you can carry on your keychain or belt, so you don't need to have actual money. Very handy.
About the shoppin' carts... This was not at any time, that it is today. I first noticed this in France in 1985. In France at that time it was used with a 10 Francs coin, which was around 3 Deutsche Mark. In Germany it started around 30 years ago. Before that, also employes took the carts back. It was a job for pupils starting at a age of 14 or 15. So the markets made the decision, to save money and let the customers do it by themselfs...
Part 2? Ofcourse! We miss the good old long stories and your reactions. You made my day, again, it is too funny how even tiny things can be so surprising for someone. Even i don't use scented .. serious, isn't it tmi? But good to know that americans don't bite.
It's strange, the only toilets where you have to pay are at train stations or autobahn restaurants (where you get a voucher, so you basically become a customer of the shop), at airports its always free, at restaurants it's always free for customers, anywhere else if there is no gate blocking you from entering it's also free, doesn't matter if someone is sitting next to the door
The shopping carts; since Europeans walk more they will not only be left in the parking lot, but will disappear all over town. That's what the coin is for. To prevent the carts to be taken beyond the parking lot.
Great video! I will say the walkable transit usage heavy urban areas aren't unique to Europe. NYC where I live (brooklyn to be exact) is very much like that there's many in the city who don't even own cars (traffic still sucks btw...lol). Most walk and take trains/buses everywhere. In my travels I noticed San Fran, Chicago, Philly and Boston is very much the same also. And the dog owners also take their dogs everywhere and park em outside the stores and ppl love to go outside in nice weather. I have many complaints about NYC but that's one thing they get right. Your videos actually made me want to visit Germany!
Shopping carts, we have the same system here in Canada in many places, it teaches people to be mindful of other driver's parking needs, why have them strewn all over the parking lot.
Just thinking for months now if i will ever have a Dog again. Thank you for your help :D . Btw. to have a Dog is an easy way to get in contact with Germans ;) . Having something in common always helps. GL & HF , thin we have a good summer this year.
About peeing in public: I was at the Rheinkultur festival 2003 (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinkultur) and once we got off the U-Bahn, of course we were all drinking beer, all the men lined up at the next fence to pee. Regardless of thousands of people walking by only 2m away. No bushes, just a plain fence :)
Oh another thing that hits me as a German everytime I come back: it is crazy behind in terms of digitilization. Pretty much behind every other country in the world.
German toilet paper is NOT generally scented! In fact our family NEVER had scented toilet paper and I live in Germany for over 50 years. That's just what happens if you can't read a foreign language.
Oh I would love to go an USA supermarket and bag my groceries myself and tell the cashier that I don't need plastic bags because I brought my own bag 😁
The minimum vacation is 24 days by law. Most people seem to have 30days (exluding sick days. So when you got sick within your leave ask the doctor for certificate.)
But those 24 days are calculated for six working days a week (which used to be normal in Germany after WW II), so they amount to 4 weeks. Most people have 6 weeks (= 30 days for a 5-day working week, 36 for a 6-day working week).
The point was that Lux said you get 4 weeks off, and I'm sure she didn't mean in some highly specific legalese smartass way. And Volker correcly said it's actually even more.Almost 5 as a minimum, often closer to six weeks.
If you`ve read the product information, there is problably some english explanation or at least a hint, that this specific toilet paper is perfumed. Just take a closer look. Greetings from Solingen.
even for the "everyone could do that job" in germany jou have to lern to study for that job 2 to 3 years and as a german i think there could be more free time but to explain that is a bit to hard for my englisch skills it has to do with the broken social system
Yes and no. 😊 There is plenty of perfumed t-paperrolls mostly Camille but not the "paper" (sheets) is perfumed just the tube in the middle is perfumed. But be aware - it could get quite stinky instead of smelling.
I am German and I try to comment some of our German "oddities" :-)
1. Toilet paper: You bought the expensive one, probably also 4 layers thick. Buy the cheaper one, 3-layers thick, that isn't perfumed. I would never buy the perfumed one but some people like it, Iguess.
2. Stroller "carport": I have never seen such before. But it makes sense: Most parents bring their kids by foot from the near neighborhood to the kindergarten and leave their stroller until the afternoon in that shelter, protected by rain and sun.
3. After work party: It is mostly just a marketing name to get customers already in the late afternoon and early evening. Most Germans don't do after work partys a lot, because they are tired after work and just want to get home to the family.
4. Sunday closing: It comes from the bibel and cristian culture, where God rested on the 7th day of his creation. As Germany was (an most likely still is) a Christian nation, we keep that idea also for our people to get a day of faith, rest, recreation and as a family day. I am always wondering, why Americans think that is strange, as they are much more Christian, at least on the surface. But greed of profit seems to more important if you look deeper into American society. Hypocritical!
5. Vacation/less work time: It is a law in Germany, that you are not allowed to work more then 40 hours a week. It can be more, if the company has a good reason, for example seasonal work. But then you must get more money or you can have more free days at some other month of the year. In average over a year, you are not allowed to work more then 40 hours a week. And yes, even we work less hours than Americans we have the same productivity or even higher. Just wasting time by having more hours of presence at company does not mean, you are productive. Recreation is a very important factor to be highly productive.
6. Shopping carts: You got it! It is more effectively, because people will bring the cart back by themselfes instead of leaving it somewhere. And you don't need an extra person to collect all carts. German efficiency.
7. Own bags and bagging: Of course bring your own bag. It is better for the environment and saves money. Why not having a small bag always with you? Are Americans so lazy or mental disadvantaged to bag their own stuff? No wonder, that with this attidude in every situation of life, people in the US are getting fatter and fatter.
8. Bathrooms: You only pay for public toiletts, for example on the Autobahn, who are managed by extra companies. And mostly it is not a duty only wish by the toilett cleaner. So if you don't pay, you feel bad, but you won't get into jail :-) Many public toiletts have entrance machine nowadays. You won't get into them until you have payed. In restaurants it must be free by law.
The part abot 40 hours a week is just plain wrong. you are allowed an average of 8 hours/"werkstag" which is every day except sunday and holidays. so it's 48 hours/week
Most people don't work on saturday. Most people work from monday to friday, which are 5 day * 8 hours = 40 hour weeks. If you work on saturday, for example as hairdresser, you have a free monday mostly. Employment contracts with 48 hours a week are rare, however it would be legal. So Drizzt1990 ist correct but you won't find many people that work 48 hours a week by contract, because most employment contracts contain a 40 hour deal from monday to friday.
That was kinda rude towards Americans...
Elena Bell: Maybe. But it is my opinion. Or the truth, or both. Since I have lived in the U.S. I might be able to compare and point out some "American ways of life" in relation to Germany :-D Sorry, if that offended you.
By law up to 60 hours a week is OK (that is actually an EU regulation), however, yes, most contracts include up to 40 only. Management position jobs are not regulated and usually do not work by the hour, so 60 to 80 hours a weeks is certainly possible and in some companies expected.
Sundays off originally stems from the christian religion, but has been part of the german social development for quite some time, remember that some very basic rights for workers were already established during the historical german empire, most notably influenced by Bismarck with the laws concerning workers health insurance, workers accident insurance, and insurance for retirement and invalidity (1881). In the Weimar Republic, 1919, the first general law about working hours for workers was established that regulated the working day to 8 hours (which was later opened to 10 and 12 hours again). Sundays off was the norm, as said, due to religious demands, however, it became part of union contracts as early as 1900, and in 1956 the five day workweek became the norm, and resulting from that the 40 hour normal working time per week. Some industries even went as low as 38,5 or even 35 hours per week.
Volkswagen was famous for its 4 day workweek (28,8 hours) which they had for quite a few years, it was introduced in 1994 to prevent laying off 30.000 workers, only in 2010 did they increase the working time again and nowadays they have 35 hours which can increase (with extra paid overtime) to 40 hours.
On a different note, i work for a british company with a german contract and have a 5 day workweek, however as we do work on weekends we have more days off, so my usual pattern is working 5 days early, then 3 days off, then 5 days working late and another 4 days off.
While 4 weeks vacation is the minimum (i believe it is by now an EU regulation), many have 5 or 6 weeks of paid vacation per year
I like your videos because you take every weired situation with a smile!!! And finally try to understand ....
Thank you 😊
In an US walmart i once bought a pear. The young lady cashier, who was standing, managed to put her arm on the scales, resulting in a pear weight of more than 3 lbs. I told her and got the feeling that she did not understand how weighing actually works.
It's allways fun when Americans find out that their way of live isn't the world standard.
Re: the chained-up shopping carts. It's quite simple, customers who have to leave a deposit for a cart will most likely bring it back instead of leaving it on the parking lot or taking their groceries home with it... so the supermarkets don't have to hire staff to constantly collect and bring back the carts (and the carts won't get lost anywhere else...). Just a matter of cost efficiency - that's actually one of the reasons groceries in general are cheaper than e.g. in the US.
Makes good sense to me! I have a small pickup truck, and when I find shopping carts abandoned around town, I stop, load them up, and return them to their respective stores-the record was >5 km (3 mi) away. Years ago, one of my first jobs was as a "courtesy clerk" at a grocery store, bagging groceries and loading them in customers' cars. I never forgot that in the training, they made the point that (45 years ago) each cart was worth $400! It's theft to take them off the premises.
1. Depending on how much money u wanna spend for your toilet paper u can get more quality toilet paper
2. German People actually care about environment, Leasing a car is not so common for Germans, its more affordable if u buy one ! Also the transportation system of Germany is one of the best and very well connected!
3. NO WORK ON SUNDAY 🙅🏻♀️(religious background) occasionally there will be one or two opened Sunday’s during the year u can look it up for the region ur living in !
4. Working in the US most of the companies don’t even set contracts with the employees over the conditions of the work. U literally can leave whenever u want. In Germany there are no jobs without contracts even if it is a mini job, this is the more secure way for both parties !
5. A Germans best friend is the dog 🐕!
6. You are not paying for a shopping cart 🛒, u are leasing it for ur shopping experience and giving it back after ur done ! It’s not craziness, it’s smart and they won’t get stolen !
7. Bringing your own bag makes you a more responsible person and apparently saving our environment from more plastic it don’t need ! Being hired specifically for putting your groceries in the bag and moving shopping cart I mean how much more lazy can one get ! Germans do not support a mentality where people are being made lazy by these kind of jobs !
8. IF u pee in public and get caught by the police u will receive a punishment where u have to pay up to 100 €
5. Germans aren't friends to each other. So: the dog is the only friend of a German ;-)
all restrooms in restaurants are free.. they have to offer free toilets by law.. paying some person who sits in the restroom with a little plate in front of them is not mandatory. people just try to "guilt" you into leaving money there, because you might feel bad just walking by... at the end of the day the cleaning personal gets their regular wage - just like baggers in US stores - and you dont need to tip them.. its also often the case, that this tipping money goes to the owner of the restaurant/business and not actually to the cleaning staff
there are also free public toilets - many gas stations for example have free restrooms - but throughout the cities they are generally rare.. at other public places like train stations you have to pay...
but to make it short: as soon as a place sells open drinks (drinks in glasses, instead of cans for example), or offers a specific amount of seats, they are forced, by law, to offer free restrooms.. there are some exceptions when it comes to stuff like "imbissbuden" (snack stands??) or very small places but in general restaurants have to offer free restrooms
No, they're not beggars. Toilet cleaners have to buy all the agents, only get paid minimum wage and have sometimes really bad working hours (like at night).
So don't be an asshole and give them a tip.
+Sualtam lmao.. i don't know in which country you live, but you for sure did not describe germany...
"the cleaning personal has to buy their own stuff.." did not read something that stupid in quite some time
btw: no one said something about beggars.. learn to read and then google what the difference between a BEGGAR and a BAGGER is..
wait let me help you: a BEGGAR is someone who sits on the street and asks for money, a BAGGER on the other hand is someone who has a job - most often minimum wage - and PACKS your stuff in your bag.. it's a very common thing in the USA.. just like it is common to not give BAGGERs tips, because like cleaning personal in germany they get their regular wage and not such low amounts like waiters in america... so why does the cleaner deserve tips, but the bagger does not? what about the tips of the million low wage workers in factories and warehouses?
also as i have already said: most of the time the cleaning personal is not allowed to keep the tips.. you can do a simple test:
just try to give them the money instead of placing it on the plate, 99% of them will deny taking the money directly, because it isn't their money and if the owner of the business would find out that they took the money it would be stealing.. let me quote something out of a verdict in which was decided that "toilettenfrauen/männer" are regular cleaning personal and that they have to get normal wages:
_Betrug gegenüber dem Toilettennutzer_
_Doch die Entscheidung ist noch weitreichender: Das Landessozialgericht sieht im Vorgehen der Betriebe einen "Betrug gegenüber dem Toilettennutzer und Trinkgeldspender". Wer ein Trinkgeld zahlt, geht davon aus, dass das Geld direkt an die Reinigungskräfte geht. Doch meist müssten diese es vollständig an den Toilettenpächter weitergeben, so das Gericht._
so yeah, they get the same minimum wage like other cleaning personal, that doesn't sit right in front of you and whom you never think about.. people who clean schools, public buildings, office buildings.. what about their tips? tell me what about those people, they earn the same minimum wage.. but yeah, all of a sudden, if a shady employer places someone right in front of you, you discover your good heart and will get ripped of, cause the cleaning personal, in most cases, does not get to keep that money...
Whoever is selling food and is offering seats, is forced to offer a free bathroom for the customers.
What about the toilet ladies in some (eg. Stuttgart Stadtmitte) McDonalds begging for change? I was so upset, as I had just spent 10 EUR for eating, and then there was that annoying woman. Of course I ignored her as I never would pay for toilet as a customer, but I believe many will pay as they feel too uncomfortable to just go by.
you don't have to pay them. You can if you want which is considered a donation.
exactly. you dont have to pay them. the cleaning personal gets their regular wage and often the tips you leave dont go to the cleaning personal at all, but to the owner of the business. restaurants have to offer free restrooms and placing a person with a little plate in front of them in a restroom is just a shitty and shady tactic to make some more money, by guilting you into leaving a tip, cause you might feel bad simply walking by...
I can not wait until it's summer and she discovers the German attitude to nudity :D
FightplanNr.10 very unlikely unless she's specifically looking for it
Where will I find the nude Germans? Surely, not in public ??
depends how you define public, but definitely not in the streets. in a small section of englischer garten (a famous park) in munich people can sunbathe naked, sometimes you can see women topless while being at the pool (not in the water), also at some places you can swim naked (lakes, beaches of baltic sea or on sylt). some pools also have special days/times/areas for swimming without clothes all year long
also you could take a closer look at the magazine-section in our gas stations. that may surprise you as an american ;)
Haha well... 🙇🏽
So cute.😊
Real story (own experience)
The time Walmart started in (north) Germany they tryed to "install" the bagging bag thing here.
But people here in north Germany felt so uncomfortable with that they complaint about it and after ~ 2 months Walmart stopped bagging bags for Germans.
Did they? maybe in select markets. All in all the manager of Walmart Germany tried to push US-style business practices and a shopping experience that clashed strongly with the locals, employees and customers - so Walmart disappeared from Germany completely. It's now a model case in business schools on what not to do when trying to get into foreign markets.
besides some strange "customs" that creep out customers and employees, they are said (at least that is what i have read) to also have tried practises like price dumping, exclusive deals with producers which would have made them dependent and later forced to accept any prices offered, etc, all either frowned upon, against union regulations (if they didn't "strongly discourage" people from having unions at all), or strictly illegal. when they couldn't use those "US-style business tactics" to legally keep profits high enough (to satisfy too high expectations of their owners) and still legally compete with german chains, they finally gave up.
in germany (and europe), we have a "free market economy", but with certain legal restrictions and caps so that rights of employees and customers are guaranteed, not only currently, but also for the future, and thus eg prohibiting some mergers between big companies or to use a "big financial backer" for selling all items with a deficit only to cripple otherwise healthy (but less rich) competitors, and later be able to have monopolies and dictate prices after eliminating the competition.
"...you have to go to the bathroom a lot..."
I don't agree on that point.
Honestly, I can't even remember when I had to use a public toilet in the last 20 years. At least not the kind you have to pay for (or are "expected" to leave a tip), I did not count those e.g. when you're in a restaurant. I also don't know any German who uses public restrooms on a regular basis.
Sundays are "family time". More people work on sundays as you might think. Just the shopping malls and bureaus will close, police, fire departements, hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes and so on, of course are open and there for you at any time. If you really need to buy something gas stations and kiosks are open, bakeries are open in the morning....
Most things for families and tourists are open. Museums not always but theme parks, restaurants, cafes etc pp
Yes, the work-life-balance is a balance here. Most people work for living and not the other way around. 4 weeks vacation time is the minimum and your boss not just needs to give you 4 weeks, he/she also has to make sure you take it! You can't just take one or two weeks. On top everyone will get payed full salary up to 6 weeks a year if he/she is unable to work because of health problems/illnesses. Most people will have something around 6 weeks vacation per year, you'll find the 4 weeks mostly in jobs people just work temporarily or when someone doesn't have a "Ausbildung" (job education?) or qualification.
Our usual working hours are 40-48 hours per week, distributed in 5-6 days. Which days from the seven and how many hours on what day, depends on your job and your contract. The minimum length of break times after a maximum hours of working are also dedicated by law.
People don't walk because they don't have a car, but because it is more convenient or reasonable to walk or use public transportation. In fact there's at least one car in almost every household, mostly two or three. There are more than sixtyfour million cars (without trucks and commercial vehicles) for a population of eighty millions - do the maths.
But you do not have to use your car to come around in german towns and cities, so people leave their car at home or in a parking place and take a walk, a concept that seemingly appears strange to most americans. I once got the advice that it was way too far to walk from our motel to the town centre of Bar Harbour, Maine and that I had to use a cab: turned out it was about a mile and a half away. So we decided to walk back after having dinner in town and got stopped by a police car half the way back, demanding the answer what were our intentions, walking down the street in the evening 😂
The only places in the US where I found it accepted to walk were Manhattan, Washington D.C. and Downtown San Francisco. The weirdest thing were people driving with their car one mile to the gym to excercise 😉
30 years ago we had no coins in the carts. And the caretaker had to gather them from everywhere as they were spread all over the parking lot. So as this job was removed, we have cheaper groceries now.
Nun, in der Mainacht 1990 haben sich einige Jugendliche bei unserem Multi-Markt einen Scherz erlaubt und alle Wägen auf dem Parkplatz zu einem großen Kreis verbunden. So bekommt man seine Münze, 1DM, in dem Fall, sogar wieder zurück. :-)
Kann natürlich sein, dass in anderen Gegenden das Münz-System erst später eingeführt wurde.
Everywhere at the parking lot? - They where everywhere in the City, in lakes, in rivers, between trees in the parks, everywhere rusty damaged shopping carts in walking distsance of the store and at the store itself you couldn't find some carts if you needed them. And sometimes when stelle prices rises again scrap metal merchants where seen very often in this areas shortly before all the carts where gone :-)
Ah, long time no see! Welcome back.
Bathrooms in Restaurants are usually free. In fact, whenever you're a customer, you're usually granted free entry to the bathroom.
Public bathrooms, e.g. in trainstations, will have a gate or some person sitting at the entrance expecting you to give 50 ct or 1 - 2 € .
Shopping carts: once they where free, then some people started making chairs out of them or just dumped them somewhere. So the poor shopping carts got chained to each other to prevent them from being abused...
Fake fire places are just there to look good and to brag.
Oh, and it's not only men peeing in public. Girls just hide better.
Waiting for part 2. Lists are to be finished.
Hahaha I'm dying 😭 "girls just hide better". The shopping cart issue is one us Americans have endured for years... I don't understand why no one else came up with the idea of chaining them together. Some stores have "alarms" on the shopping carts so if they are taken a certain distance from the store's entrance a siren is released 😅.
We, here in Belgium, have the same toilet paper. 😉
Afterwork parties are usual on Thursdays. Opens at 5 pm to 11pm or midnight or sometimes 1 am.
On Sundays almost everything is closed in a lot of European countries.
The other things you mentioned are just European things I guess. 😊😎
Yeah fellow European, we have a lot in common, even if we speak in different ways. :-))
Is it wrong that I am in love with your fireplace? LOL but the video was cute :D
Haha thank you , now if only the fireplace was real!
who would cut down the trees for ya? ;-)
But spring will soon be here...
Fan crush....Hayley x Lux....my heart cannot deal 🙌🏼😍
We have strong unions in Europe, they fight for higher wages. I don't say that people at the grocery store get enough but more than in other countries. So shops can't afford to employ people to collect carts or to pack bags.
4 weeks of paid vacation is the BARE minimum by law, most people I know have at least 25 days and many, like me, are having 30 days of paid vacation per year
20 days vacation? This is the mandatory minimum guaranteed by the government. Most people will have more. If you have a desired job with an union like IG Metal involved you will have 30 days and will get additional money for each day.
From my experience most employees in Germany have about 6 weeks of paid vacation per year.
The ticket you get from public "bathroom" vendors usually contain some kind of printed coupon - especially when the "bathroom" is in a place that has shops nearbey like malls, train stations, and whatnot. You can often get a bit back by getting a small reduction in cost when you buy something there and hand in the bathroom ticket at the cashier.
Ok I'd just like to say that I'm German and I have never owned scented toilet paper nor have I ever been anywherwewhere they had it as far as I can remember
That seems to be the popular consensus on the scented toilet paper lol. I'm not sure what they have going on over at Netto, but apparently I'm the only person to have accidentally bought the stuff.
Haha I will look for it the next time I go to Netto. I've seen scented pads quite a lot,are those popular in the US? I don't think they're good for you tbh, I wouldn't buy them.
Oh my goodness the scented panty liners are the worst. I could make a rant video explaining why these should never be used, but I will save the internet from another silly video haha.
Lux Forever haha yeah😂
I accidentally buyed years ago some toilet paper with Camille extract on it.
Talking about bagging:
I live in Gemany and recently injured my leg, and a salesperson asked me, "Darf ich das für Sie einpacken?" "May I bag that for you?"
There are really helpful people around over here, and of course I gladly accepted the offer, most of all because it came free of charge.
Thank you for your cordiality (i had to look that up). You live and learn.
You find these closed down fireplaces mostly in older buildings, where the heating installation is modernized. So there should be a heating control anywhere around in your room (Zimmer). Again, i like your frankness.
Shopping carts would be left all over the place otherwise. Or even taken all the way home. That's why.
By the way there is coin dummies you can carry on your keychain or belt, so you don't need to have actual money. Very handy.
Many people work on sundays: All the police, firefighters, doctors, nurses, busdrivers, and more.
About the shoppin' carts... This was not at any time, that it is today. I first noticed this in France in 1985. In France at that time it was used with a 10 Francs coin, which was around 3 Deutsche Mark. In Germany it started around 30 years ago. Before that, also employes took the carts back. It was a job for pupils starting at a age of 14 or 15. So the markets made the decision, to save money and let the customers do it by themselfs...
Part 2? Ofcourse! We miss the good old long stories and your reactions.
You made my day, again, it is too funny how even tiny things can be so surprising for someone. Even i don't use scented .. serious, isn't it tmi? But good to know that americans don't bite.
Haha you don't use scented? Someone has to be buying this, not just unassuming foreigners 😂.
It's strange, the only toilets where you have to pay are at train stations or autobahn restaurants (where you get a voucher, so you basically become a customer of the shop), at airports its always free, at restaurants it's always free for customers, anywhere else if there is no gate blocking you from entering it's also free, doesn't matter if someone is sitting next to the door
So tipping isn't necessarily required if there is someone at the door?
nope, but if you feel sorry because you made a mess and they need to clean after you, you can tip them
Of course that means that IF you tip they'll know that it was YOU who made that horrible mess :-D
ahhh & scented toilet paper is bad for the who-who!!!
You are so funny!.
now. you. know.
Oh mein Gott, du bist wunderbar. Please go on making videos, you´re such an intelligent, funny and observant person. Danke, subbed.
The shopping carts; since Europeans walk more they will not only be left in the parking lot, but will disappear all over town. That's what the coin is for. To prevent the carts to be taken beyond the parking lot.
Great video! I will say the walkable transit usage heavy urban areas aren't unique to Europe. NYC where I live (brooklyn to be exact) is very much like that there's many in the city who don't even own cars (traffic still sucks btw...lol). Most walk and take trains/buses everywhere. In my travels I noticed San Fran, Chicago, Philly and Boston is very much the same also. And the dog owners also take their dogs everywhere and park em outside the stores and ppl love to go outside in nice weather. I have many complaints about NYC but that's one thing they get right.
Your videos actually made me want to visit Germany!
Shopping carts, we have the same system here in Canada in many places, it teaches people to be mindful of other driver's parking needs, why have them strewn all over the parking lot.
Just thinking for months now if i will ever have a Dog again. Thank you for your help :D . Btw. to have a Dog is an easy way to get in contact with Germans ;) . Having something in common always helps. GL & HF , thin we have a good summer this year.
Well I guess I'm getting a dog now hahaha.
About peeing in public: I was at the Rheinkultur festival 2003 (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinkultur) and once we got off the U-Bahn, of course we were all drinking beer, all the men lined up at the next fence to pee. Regardless of thousands of people walking by only 2m away. No bushes, just a plain fence :)
Oh another thing that hits me as a German everytime I come back: it is crazy behind in terms of digitilization. Pretty much behind every other country in the world.
German toilet paper is NOT generally scented! In fact our family NEVER had scented toilet paper and I live in Germany for over 50 years. That's just what happens if you can't read a foreign language.
I really like your talking style
could listen to you for hours
Oh I would love to go an USA supermarket and bag my groceries myself and tell the cashier that I don't need plastic bags because I brought my own bag 😁
If you to many specialty supermarkets, like Whole Foods, that is almost expected. They encourage you to bring your own bag :)
Most people have a car, but that doesn't mean it has to be used to drive one block.
I am guilty.
The minimum vacation is 24 days by law. Most people seem to have 30days (exluding sick days. So when you got sick within your leave ask the doctor for certificate.)
But those 24 days are calculated for six working days a week (which used to be normal in Germany after WW II), so they amount to 4 weeks. Most people have 6 weeks (= 30 days for a 5-day working week, 36 for a 6-day working week).
That may be true, but really, that's a bit far removed from common use. To almost all people, each 5 days off means a week off.
But to the law, a week means 6 days off, and that was the point here.
The point was that Lux said you get 4 weeks off, and I'm sure she didn't mean in some highly specific legalese smartass way. And Volker correcly said it's actually even more.Almost 5 as a minimum, often closer to six weeks.
Only in Germany I think you need to travel in Europe.
Part II ---The return of Lux!
If you`ve read the product information, there is problably some english explanation or at least a hint, that this specific toilet paper is perfumed. Just take a closer look.
Greetings from Solingen.
So close!
You have such a nice soul !
Also Italy and Belgium Sunday is for resting. Not only in Germany
Im pretty sure not just Sunday is for resting in italy.
Hi, good video, interesting for My practice, have a good luck
try gasstations at sunday, if u wanna buy something.
Most shops at the train stations are open on sundays.
I heard that the toilet bowl in germany is disgusting, not much water so there’s leftover on your poops.... yakkk
Weird question, which color had the dog, was it dark grey or a light grey with long fur?
Ich dachte auch gleich an den Irischen Wolfshund.
I remember him having short fur but a lighter grey. He/she was so pretty though!
Lux Forever that was a irish wolfhound,he and his owner live somewhere in Elberfeld. ☺
Wow next time I see him I'm taking pics 😂 like everyone else on the street. Even the Polizei was petting him.
you like big dogs? you should check out alaskan malamutes
just look at that amazing huge fluffy dog
even for the "everyone could do that job" in germany jou have to lern to study for that job 2 to 3 years
and as a german i think there could be more free time but to explain that is a bit to hard for my englisch skills
it has to do with the broken social system
oh and "wildpinkeln" pee in publick is forbidden by law
so when someone do that kind of stuff its really nessesary
Looks like the "Hans im Glück" burger restaurant in Wuppertal.
It is 🔮
Is your fireplace Marble?
It’s fake lol
good toilet paper not being number one?- you will only say so until you get "bad" toiletpaper the first time!Hint: try russia!
I like that stroller station story.
It was too random, but I had to share.
my first thought was: "who in hell would steal a stroller?".
Idk but I would not recommend leaving one unattended in the states 😂.
You have to tip the bagging persons for putting the bags in the cart??? That would never ever have crossed my mind.
no you don't
Do you think tipping is for poor economies? Just a thought. Thanks for saying fewer hours, not less hours!
You beat me to it on the "fewer and less" statement.
well who wouldnt want to wipe with a good smelling Cat ;)
I'm German and I didn't know we have scented toilet paper.
I have to have it. Where can I get it? :-)
Hahaha noooo don't fall for it 😂. It's at Netto.. cute little penguins and all.
your ass will start burning eventually. Scented toilet paper is awful!
1st viewer? nice!
Pics or it didn't happen 🙆🏽
Hahahah so funny
Hi
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Moment! Es gibt parfümiertes Klopapier? :-O
Ja, geh und finde etwas. Es wird dein Leben verändern. 😂 I joke, I joke.
Yes and no. 😊
There is plenty of perfumed t-paperrolls mostly Camille but not the "paper" (sheets) is perfumed just the tube in the middle is perfumed.
But be aware - it could get quite stinky instead of smelling.