The symmetry of life. In 1985 I saw Foreigner perform in Nuernberg, Germany, and now I have a foreigner from Nuernberg as an exchange student in class.
He dropped by after school today to show me the math book he'd be using if he were back home--it's about 1/4" thick! We chatted for a bit as well.
I asked him what his biggest surprise was, what has he encountered that he never expected. Without hesitation he said, "Customer service. We have no such thing in Germany. Nobody cares about the customer there."
I thought that a most interesting observation for a teenager.
It's true. They are almost suspicious of customers, in my brief experience. When we visited, my sister-in-law informed me not to handle things on store shelves. Clerks were to be called over to take the item off the shelf and display it to the customer for closer inspection. No touching allowed! I can see how this would reduce breakage and theft, but it also would reduce sales, I would think.
ReplyDeleteMy sweet students from the Czech Republic says similar things. She's amazed at how much time people spend worrying about what other people think of them.
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