Germany: Public Behaviour - Part 2

From ExecutivePlanet.com

Acceptable public conduct

Eye contact during the introduction is serious, direct, and should be maintained as long as the person is addressing you. Even in public between strangers, eye contact or out and out staring can be direct and not necessarily smiling. It would be wrong, however, to assume that all stares in public are meant to be threatening. Nonetheless, do not expect direct eye contact to necessitate some greeting or acknowledgement; the German will also not expect anything from you. This is one of the most typical communication patterns immediately observed by visitors to Germany. If the visitor is visibly foreign, this can unfortunately result in a mistaken perception of the Germans as cold and unfriendly to foreigners. What is essentially a typical example of intercultural miscommunication/misunderstanding, can suddenly misread in an unfortunate, racial context.

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Before crossing the street, pedestrians are expected to wait patiently on the curb until the light turns green. Moreover, on streets where there are no traffic lights, be very careful when crossing, since German drivers will not always stop for you.

Several factors [e.g. population density, excessive rules and regulations that govern many aspects of daily life, the fact rather than relationship orientation of the German character] converge into a typically aggressive “driving culture” on the famed German autobahn. Germans can be extremely impatient and aggressive drivers. Reaction time on German roads is much shorter than, say, in North America, where lower speed limits and plentiful space enable a driver to simply take his or her time and take it easy to maneuver, be this while negotiating for a parking space, reacting to a green light, or permitting pedestrians to pass. Tailgating is very common and quite aggressive, especially on the left lane of the autobahn, where etiquette dictates that slower vehicles give way immediately by moving to the right lane. The absence of a speed limit also means that one is always catching up to the next car out in front and having to pass. Be prepared for much more “chasing” and maneuvering, which can make autobahn driving much more stressful.

Although this is usually a very formal, law-obeying society, pushing, shoving, and other displays of impatience in lineups are not uncommon. Apologies are in such cases not necessarily the rule. Interestingly, despite the high value of rules and social order in most aspects of public life, queuing and waiting your turn are not strong traits in present day Germany. The bakery is a good showplace for this kind of behavior. Sales personnel themselves do not expect lines and will tend to aggravate the problem by typically asking “Wer is jetzt dran?” [“Whose turn is it now?”]. If you do not move fast and stick to your guns, expect someone brazenly to butt in right in front of you. Petty arguments are not uncommon at such venues, and don't expect the sales person to speak up for you!

You can expect the distance of comfort between strangers in public to be much smaller than is considered normal in North America and Australia, but more than in African and Arab countries. While people in conversation typically maintain a comfortable distance of at least 2 ft between them, the person directly behind you in the supermarket line can be literally breathing down your neck.

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