Kultur 1

Just when it seems that Germany may be the only place on Earth where the law of Entropy ceases to apply, Spiegel reveals an uncharacteristic stereotype, which is a departure from the usual German "Ordung." I was quite shocked to learn about the way that lines, or the lack thereof, work in Germany-considering that lines are a very basic form of order and logic. It makes sense given the other sterotpyes Spiegel has given us, especially regarding German bluntness in a public space, but still, I hardly would have expected such a thing.
The state of German roads makes more sense, however. I already knew that traffic laws in Germany were serious business, even with regards to those thigns that we in American consider unimportant, like turn signals or j-walking. Becuase I have relatives in Germany, I knew how traffic in general worked on the Autobahn, but I had never heard that drivers with German cars were treated somewhat differently. Though, America is much the same way; "Buy American!" is a slogan heard everywhere, especially in the Metro-Detroit area.
The state of the bargain-supermarkets was also surprising, especially with regards to cleanliness. The Puritan decoration of the building makes sense, but I would have expected a German supermarket to be home to Disneyworld levels of cleanliness-any signs of spillage or mold instantly removed by employees. When the article mentioned lawsuits, the system made more sense. I knoe Germans are a less litigious people than Americans (though it's not hard to be), and as a result, stores feel less pressure to clean potentially slippery spills or unhealthy food impurities.