Thursday, September 18, 2008

Germany ... Pubs, pork and efficiency

I am just finishing up a few days in Germany on business. We had a global meeting and they wanted to have it off-site from HQ, so we ended up in a little town called Dirmstein. It is a sleepy little town of, perhaps, 1000 people and it rolls up the sidewalks early. I mean this place was just dead. Only the American visitors walking around trying to find a bar that was open. I did manage to find a small pub that served some beer last night when I was on my own (other nights were group outings and somewhat planned). The folks spoke little to no English, so I managed to communicate with my somewhat feeble attempts at German. It all worked out, though, and I even managed to understand their directions to the ATM (de: Geldautomat) to get cash since the answer to my question about accepting master card (Nehmen Sie Matercard?) was a clear "Nein". They were clearly local folk and their conversation centered around farming. They were very accepting and did not seem to mind sitting at a common table (similar to a US picnic table) with an American deeply involved with reading a book. I am sure it looked comical, though.

A colleague and I were inquiring with our German boss what the national fascination in Germany is with pork. Certainly they have their share of "fisch", "ente" (duck), "huhn" (chicken) and "rindfleisch" (rump steak), but the menus are overhwelmed by pork entries in as many ways as one might think. This does not even include the unbelievable number of wurst (sausage) types that are available. Think of a menu with 50 items and 45 of them are pork, usually accompanied by heavy gravies. The only thing our boss could figure out is that the scarcity of land has pushed toward swine being raised instead of cattle.

I noticed as I walked around the larger towns (the ones with traffic) that there is something else that seems very "German". The people will not walk against a crossing light. It does not matter if there is not a car within a mile (1.6 km), they dutifully stand and wait for the little green man to light up before crossing a street, even one that is only 5 meters (16 feet) wide. Whether it is the law or just cultural, they are all obedient. Of course, the typical American (me) looks both ways and goes. I can feel them cringe. My boss even spoke outloud that it is dangerous to cross the street like that. I don't know. It has to be cultural. He said that my approach is typical of American cultural differences with Germans. He said Americans are doers, perhaps a little ADHD. He said "You see a problem and fix it. For example. You need light so you invent a light switch to turn it on. Then, you quickly move to the next problem. Germans", he said, "will spend time improving the switch and designing a number of different styles, types, designs and colors." I added to that thought that they would also write a 200 page manual on the proper use. It is true, I think. Americans as a group like to be busy tackling multiple problems and trying to move on to the next thing. We have a short attention span.

Well, it is back to home now and I hope dinner tonight won't be pork.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The Edge of Rights

I was listening to an NPR program today where they were discussing individual vs social rights. At one point, the commentator, I believe it was former Carter administration fellow Brezhinski, was talking about social rights. In essence, we legislate rights on the use of arms for the social good. Hence, we cannot randomly shoot someone. OK. I can buy that. Then he talks about further social rights restrictions such as seat belt laws. The idea is that society needs us as functioning human beings, healthy, and all of that, so laws are passed to protect our well being; hence, seat belt laws, motorcycle helmet laws, child seat laws, etc. This is where it gets a bit fuzzy to me. How much further of a step is it to: smoking bans to protect the "social" health, bans on drinking (we already have drugs) for the same reason, bans on eating certain foods, bans on driving certain vehicles, bans on motorized devices for sport ... you see where I am going. This is a fine line and I think we must always remain vigilant to make sure we do not give away too much. I am already of the mind that we give away too much in the name of national security. That is why I refuse to give over to the government all of these personal documents that they want to, perhaps, take my name off the "no fly" list.

I would love to discuss this one with my sons ... it is always good to get the opinion of young peole on such issues. At the end of the day, I don't want to abandon quite so many of my rights.l