The article on German driving habits is interesting because of its combination of strict adherence to defined regulations with, what in America would be determined to be, complete recklessness. It is not too surprising that these things occur simultaneously; in fact the careful observation of laws, and the implied confidence in them, likely is the main cause of individuals attempting maximize any advantage not regulated by them. What Americans lack in legal enforcement is compensated for by implicit social standards. The difference in the cultures is again exemplified in the by the lack of common courtesy in lines. I am not sure really what to think about the ‘disgusting’ quality of the supermarkets. Possibly this is the result of a different order of priorities. A supermarket of this nature in America could not exist because it would lose business to a competitor. Yet, in Germany, where a daily walk to the supermarket is not rare, a certain amount of the customers are not in danger of being lost because of the high inconvenience it would cause them. It may also be possible that part of this is due to the EU. The universalization of consumer standards across the EU has had an effect of decreasing the standards in some of the most developed countries, although this may be entirely unrelated. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjrEQaG5jPM- This is a link to a video showing driving standards in India, revealing the relative safety of German roads