On another note its intruiging how Germans have formal and personal ways of speaking that are so important.Im studying such things at the moment in English.

A most interesting post mel!

@ Lelly: Well, I guess we don’t really have more or less of them than any other contry.
But, like you said, with our history one should think we should have the brains to have learned from it.

That past gets taught in schools in almost every subject: history, politics, German class, religion. If anything, ppl feel “bothered” by that. “I/my parents wasn’t/weren’t even alive back then, so when will ppl stop waving this in our faces?!” Well, if the same ppl randomly utter sentences like “Hm, if Hitler had won the war, we’d be better off economically though.” after a day of dark German history at school, I dare say they haven’t heard enough about it yet by far!!

The true nazis here range from the kind who are simply in it for the message (”Foreigners out!”) over the kind who wholeheartedly embrace our “glorious” past (”In Hitler’s time ppl like that‘d been gassed!”) to Holocaust deniers.
Oh, and then there’s the pathetic bunch who’s just picked a subculture at random. Suppose it’s ppl like that who do what a friend once told me about. This friend of mine used to be a punk in his youth. Damn, I’m so senile, they were somewhere with a group (school or something?), and my friend needed a lift back, which one of the guys offered. In the car my friend realized the other guy was a nazi and thought “OhshitohshitohshitohshitI’mfucked!” Instead, the dude started complaining to him about the lot he had with “you ppl”. Punks were being so unreasonably vindictive and whatnot. “I mean, if we get into a fight, and I beat up a punk, that’s nothing personal! I don’t get why they always refuse to have a beer with me later on.” The man was close to shedding tears over this mean punk behaviour. My friend was bewildered but happy he got neither beaten up nor offered a beer…

Sometimes I can’t decide what’s worse, the “open” nazis or the upright citizens who’d get a stroke if you told them that their petty racism/fascism was… well, racism/fascism.
We have way too many of those.
They are the type who get hooked by some of our politicians’ terrorism danger spins.
They are the type who hear a story like this and all they instinctively have to say to it is “Well, the police would not have searched their house for no reason!”
They are the type who seriously fear their colleague would be married off, converted, brainwashed and put into a burka on her trip to an Arab country on which she intended to meet Arab friends…

Anyhow, go and read Shakespeare or some such; you used to have those different ways of addressing ppl as well.
And before you point your finger at the Germans you should realize that - technically - you guys are using the formal address these days. You was formal, thou informal.

An interesting fact for you may be that most younger ppl tend to be informal amongst themselves and a certain range of age group around their own age. I prefer the informal address too - not necessarily though by nazis or some of the ickier customers we’re having, like that one drooling drunk who’s using informal address and calls me by my first name.
It’d never cross my mind though to use informal address on my new boss, even though he’s almost 10 years younger than me. Bosses should always get the formal address. Unless of course they’re hip ppl and tell you to be informal.
Also, as a rule, when the time has come between ppl to switch from formal to informal, the older person makes the suggestion. (Venerate your elders! )
That reminds me, this FloH person who occasionally comments here used to help out at the store and started that when he was still a minor. I had to practically beat him with a stick for several weeks until his mind finally settled on the informal address and quit skipping back to the formal one.

As for the nazis…huh.That quote “In Hitlers time ppl like that would have been gassed”…
It makes me realise that people everywhere are so similar! Only here it would be “In my day people like that would have been shot!”
and the whole well I wasn’t even born yet thing…an old favourite where i come from!
There was a big fuss about Holocaust deniers here a little while ago…its a real class between freedom-of-speechers and the old rigid stfu types. Haha “we’d be netter off economically” made me laugh like crazy! God you can either laugh or cry at something like that and I prefer to laugh.
But still the fact that some people can hark back to a time when their grandparents were ruled by an insane dictatorship is incredible.
Lol I think the story about that nazi..he sounds like he was pretty stoned!
To me the open nazi types are more obviously annoying if thats the right word, but the so called “upright citizens” are more hypocritical and dangerously reasonable…if that makes sense.

Yes what u say about English is true Im not pointing a finger at german! I studied it at school ( forgotten most unfortunately ) and have always had a soft spot for it as a result.
We do still have an a formal sort of way of speaking but its more dunno, just word order than actual words that change. I love languages and the way they change.Its so interesting!
peace dear.

I think that part of the fascination for Nazism among some German youth may not be an innate tendency to racism. It may just be rooted in the excitement that young people feel about doing things that are forbidden. In America, drinking alcohol is forbidden for people under the age of 21, so of course all young people under age want to drink. However, this may be a gross oversimplification. Nazism is synonymous with genocide, while having a drink generally harmed no one.

Try parents in my case. They were still kids, but they remember(ed) their flight out of East Prussia well enough.
I know it isn’t true, as that was kept away from the little ones, but still it feels like I grew up on stories of the flight and similar stuff.

@ David: Lonsdale knows.

From a link in the wiki article:

In an attempt to reclaim its image, the Lonsdale company, which is based in London, has begun a publicity campaign in the Netherlands with the slogan “Lonsdale loves all colours”.

In the past, Lonsdale has refused to supply German shops popular with neo-Nazis and has moved to sponsor immigrant and gay-rights campaigns. The company reacted with dismay to the possible bans on Lonsdale clothing in the Netherlands.

It wasn’t a pitbull was it? Those dogs can get very nasty when given the wrong training. In the states they tend to be the dog of choice for drug dealers and other assorted criminals. I could see a neo-nazi having one.

As to the clothing choice, that sounds a bit like here where certain colors denote different gangs. There was a case where a young boy was shot simply because he was wearing the wrong color sweatshirt in the wrong neighborhood (he wasn’t a gang member). Morons.

Like you, I hope your creepy customer was just passing through and not looking to take up permanent residence in your town.

They are the type who hear a story like this and all they instinctively have to say to it is “Well, the police would not have searched their house for no reason!”

They are the type who seriously fear their colleague would be married off, converted, brainwashed…

I don’t think those types of people are as bad as the outright neo-nazi types. They seem to be simply ignorant and there is the possibility of educating them. Whereas those who go in for the Nazi propaganda and trappings seem a little more hard core hatemongers.

In the past, Lonsdale has refused to supply German shops popular with neo-Nazis and has moved to sponsor immigrant and gay-rights campaigns.

Ahhh, that should be a turn off for the Nazis.

…he’s almost 10 years younger than me.

What, is he 13 or 14?

They are the type who seriously fear their colleague would be married off, converted, brainwashed…

I don’t think those types of people are as bad as the outright neo-nazi types. They seem to be simply ignorant and there is the possibility of educating them.

Well, the lady in this particular example does not wish to be educated.
Apart from being amazed at my safe and unveiled returns, she would never try foreign looking food cos “I wouldn’t have any idea what that is!” (Remember the shot of the table with falafel, hommus, etc from my trip to Amman? The yummy looking strange food on it? But with those weird Arabs you never know, right, could be sheep’s eyeballs…) and - although working with Turks and apparently surviving it - repeatedly and vocally complains about her eldest having Turkish and Arab friends and even having learned a couple of word. Oh, the horror!
No educating possible there, I guess.

In the past, Lonsdale has refused to supply German shops popular with neo-Nazis and has moved to sponsor immigrant and gay-rights campaigns.

Ahhh, that should be a turn off for the Nazis.

Unfortunately only for some.
See, the point is that they already basically stole the fashion from the politically left or neutral skinhead scene.
These days in particular it seems they’re consciously aiming to undermine their enemies’ dress code. Nazis have started wearing Che Guevara shirts and those, er, we call them Palästinenser- or Arafat-Tücher, those chequered scarfs worn in Arab countries (An online dictionary gives me keffiyeh as the English word for it. Er. Ok?).
In the 70s and 80s the wearing of the scarf meant that the wearer was politically left, in the peace movement or a rebel against the boring restrictions of society. It still gets worn by the left. But recently the right have adopted it too.
They’re stealing “our” symbols….. well, just like Hitler stole the swastika, I guess. *sighs*

…he’s almost 10 years younger than me.

What, is he 13 or 14?

You’ve gotta be kidding, eh…?

The onus is on us to show them up for what they are-and to behave as you did-letting them know their ideologies are not welcome

The yummy looking strange food on it?

Oh, you mean everything but the eggplant?

…she would never try foreign looking food cos “I wouldn’t have any idea what that is!”

Reminds me of the time I was in England and tried something and I still am not quite sure what was in it. It was kind of soft and squishy and I didn’t care for the taste. But, at least I did try it!

Hmmm, maybe that woman’s son should bring his friends around to meet her and show her they are perfectly normal and harmless?

…vocally complains about her eldest having Turkish and Arab friends and even having learned a couple of word.

Course if they were teaching him swear words…

keffiyeh

Yup, that’s it. I remember Zeyad talking about wearing one in New York when he first got there, to see what people would do. Little did he realize that in New York just about anything goes… I think he got some odd looks, but nothing overtly hateful. And it seemed he was doing plenty of looking himself at all the assorted hodge podge of people that inhabit the streets there.

They’re stealing “our” symbols…..

It just goes to show that the clothes don’t make the man or…er woman. Gotta start stealing them back maybe…

…he’s almost 10 years younger than me.

What, is he 13 or 14?

You’ve gotta be kidding, eh…?

Hey, you should take that as a compliment. At least I didn’t say 40 or 50…

@ Lynnette: Most of those breeds can be dangerous anyway.

I didn’t mean my birthday food with the marinaded and the mashed eggplants, I meant the one from my holiday with merely one bowl of eggplant mash and loads of other stuff.

You don’t know that colleague of mine. She would not want to be taught otherwise or make the effort of finding out what they’re really like. The way she’s talking about them you’d think they’re some dangerous gangster kids or something. Can’t picture her son hanging out with that type though, so…

So hard to steal ‘em back….. That ex-punk friend of mine is into Norse mythology and stuff. He thought long and hard before going and buying himself a Thor’s hammer pendant. Because guess who’s wearing that? Right. The fucking nazis. He was angry he had to carefully weigh such a trivial decision as buying himself a pretty pendant. But of course he didn’t want ppl thinking he was a nazi. In the end he bought it though.

Well, ok, your assuming I’m around 23 is amusing; your assuming I’m around 50 or 60 wouldn’t really be….

He was angry he had to carefully weigh such a trivial decision as buying himself a pretty pendant.

He should be.

But of course he didn’t want ppl thinking he was a nazi.

No, of course not. But if people assume he is, it will give him a chance to tell them point blank that, no he is not, and never would be. He just liked the pendant.

In the end he bought it though.

It’s minor, I know, but letting the neo-nazis be an issue when choosing clothing or jewelry is giving them too much power.

Well, ok, your assuming I’m around 23 is amusing; your assuming I’m around 50 or 60 wouldn’t really be….

@Lynnette - Reminds me of the time I was in England and tried something and I still am not quite sure what was in it. It was kind of soft and squishy and I didn’t care for the taste. But, at least I did try it!
we have lots of squishy things.
*squish*
pie? stew? yorkshire pud? potatoe?HAGGIS? :O no thats scottish

I am a fan of Norse mythology. I am sorry to hear that Nazis have perverted this “Good” ancient symbol!

The deep fried banana was excellent.

Although, now that I think about it, that might have been in Scotland where I tried that…

Although, now that I think about it, that might have been in Scotland where I tried that…

Deep fried banana? Deep fried cucumber?
Psssh.What is this healthy rubbish?!?
Try deep fried mars bars! or deep fried Icecream.(google it)
Scotland?It may well have been deep-fried haggis… :/
lucky you.

Btw mel, thanks for your comment…I know often I sound like some fuzzy liberal. perhaps I am.I like being an idealist.I’ve managed it despite the odds! peace.

Yeah, it really is kinda surprising (and good).

It’s minor, I know, but letting the neo-nazis be an issue when choosing clothing or jewelry is giving them too much power.

True, but would you buy yourself a swastika pendant…?

@ Lelly: *lols at the island*

Please, god, not haggis!!
*squish*

@ David:

@ Lynnette: No, no, not Scotland!!!!!!!!! (Haggis!!)

@ Caesar: Don’t forget that you ate stewed cucumber that one time when you were eating with me.

@ Kiddo: Hm. Well, why would a person say “Me white, me no black” to someone after that someone had informed him that she doesn’t wear a brand worn by nazis because of the scene it gets associated with…? He wanted to have the last word. And sound witty.

He was back at the store today btw, trying to talk A. into ordering 100 Lonsdale jackets.
Unfortunately I wasn’t present, so I have to rely on the confused statement of someone who isn’t quite fluent in German and didn’t know the English term the guy used either and the word of M. who was some distance away.
It seems that the guy randomly said “One Night Stand” shortly before leaving. Without there being any reason to.
Now we’re wondering if he wants one with A. or if that was some way to mock the brazen foreigner who doesn’t wanna get him his jackets either. Apart from that he is polite enough. Weeeeiiiird person.

@ Lelly: Stewed cucumber is teh yummy!

Psht, read the line in my header: “politically minded tree-hugging hippie…”

Ok, I straightened out your tags, now tell me which smiley you had in mind with the :/, and I’ll put it there as well.

Oh, and when a guy returned some damaged goods, and I asked him his name for the sticker we put on the stuff we return, he said it was Coldwell, which I wrote down. Amazed, he exclaimed: “Exactly! This is the first time in six years someone has managed to spell my name correctly!” Hm. Welcome to Germany? [/unpatriotic cynicism]

Hmm im not sure what smiley I was going for…there so many! perhaps or maybe or even
Hey this is fun!
I think

thanks

have fun at work.

@ Lelly:

Well, in that case the smiley stays the way it is.

Hhhhhhm, I think I will need to create a “the follies of the boss” category or something.
Today he picked up with “Sitz des Bösen” (Seat of evil) and “Kermit, der Frosch” (guess).

Hmmm, cut in slices, battered, deep fried and then dipped in salsa…if I liked cucumbers I might think it edible. Maybe they’ll try it at our State Fair. They’ll deep fry anything!

deep fried Icecream lelly

Mmmmm, mmmmm, good! I’ve had that. It’s delicious.

True, but would you buy yourself a swastika pendant…? Mel

Good point! I wouldn’t. Maybe it’s a matter of the degree of association? The swastika was so very much front and center during Hitler’s time.

Apart from that he is polite enough.

That’s what I’ve heard about Ted Bundy too. Well, as long as he stays polite and doesn’t cause any trouble. Perhaps he’s still trying to charm you out of those 100 Lonsdale jackets.

“Central/head office of madness.”

Hmm im not sure what smiley I was going for…there so many! lelly

Mel is the queen of smileys.

Is Kermit the Frog too obvious?

I admit it wasn’t really that difficult.

I was just thinking and had to come back and share my thoughts with you. Did you ever wonder why he was looking to order 100 Lonsdale jackets? Did he say? Has there been any activity around that area, such as Nazi demonstrations? Could something like that be planned? Could that be the “One Night Stand” he was muttering about? Or am I just reading too much into a guy maybe looking to make a fast Mark by reselling the jackets?

As A. had been totally lost at sea nothing the guy had said made sense to him, but the boss who overheard the conversation as well clarified a few things today.
See, after I had told A. about who usually wears Lonsdale and what transpired, he - less subtly than me - hinted at having read something about Lonsdale and the netherlands and who’s wearing it on the internet. The guy denied being a nazi or hooligan, and made a point of mentioning that the P was missing from the NSDAP anyway. Then he went on to say that Lonsdale not only contained “nsda” but also “ons” - One Night Stand.
Not speaking English and thus not grasping English pronunciation A. didn’t even realize that o might be the first letter of one, and nothing made any sense at all to him.

Still, the dude is weird. And I don’t believe him, especially after the way he tried to clear the Lonsdale logo of any misuse with his “missing P” argument.

I see the odd neo-nazi around here (wearing Lonsdale or Pitbull clothing or bomber jackets and the corresponding “Herrenmenschen” hairdo or shaved head, but things are comparatively quiet here.

As I think the wiki article stated, Lonsdale doesn’t supply suspicious stores with their goods. Plus I’m sure not every (minor) sports store in the region will have Lonsdale clothing (I know I wouldn’t if I was running a sports store (sorry, Lonsdale)). So he must figure there’s a huge demand for those jackets.
Lonsdale is an expensive brand, and I guess he is still suffering from the delusion that we can order anything and sell it to him cheap, not quite getting that super-super-super discounters simply can’t get their hands on expensive stuff like that. He wants to make lotsa easy money I’d say.

Yup. Merrily treadling along like a good boy.

@ Mafdet: Mpf.

Indeed.

@ Lynnette: Village, not town. Crappy little village.

Sorry to worry you Mel. Hopefully, he will take his bad attitude far away from your village. So, what does the village need to upgrade from crappy to not so crappy?

Good comeback.

What exactly would you like to blow up?

I never was in the military, thank God, as women in Germany don’t need to join that particular club…

What would I like to blow up? …the whole crappy village…?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7223733.stm

Maybe the village could have a nude day in the spring?

*runs off*

Sorry, I had to vent somewhere.

Can I buy a “t”?

*blushes*

I’ve enjoyed reading your entries here. The first time I lived in Germany was back in 1985-6. I arrived in Stuttgart on a warm August night in 1985 and stayed at the home of a German friend that I knew from San Francisco. That first evening, after dinner, the family and I retreated to the living room, where Sabina put on a slide-show with all the photos she had taken while living in the US. The father was an electrical engineer, pretty succcessful, it seemed. We started drinking some beers and then, as soon as WWII came up, slowly the other family members started to leave the living room, so at the end of the night it was just me and Sabina’s father. It turned out her Dad was an officer in the German Army on the Eastern front. And he was a real Nazi. He told me that sometimes in order to maintain discipline among his soldiers he had to shoot one or two of them. Wow! My first night in Germany. Wild! The Dad and I got pretty drunk that night, talking in English and German.

The next morning Sabina apologized for leaving me alone with her Dad, but she had had too many arguments with him in the past and as soon as WWII came up she just had to get out of the room.

That night I crawled into bed in a room that had something I had never encountered before in my life — roll-down shutters. Because of the jet-lag, I popped awake at one point but I couldn’t even see the hand in front of my face. It was like being in some kind of solitary confinement in a prison. What kind of country is this? I had to crawl across the floor until I was able to locate the door to the room, which I opened so I could let some of the hall-light in so I could get a better look at the room itself. I finally figured out the shutters and rolled them up a bit. It was pitch-black outside. The clock read 4 in the morning. I couldn’t sleep, so I pulled a book down from one of the bookshelves in the room and read until I grew sleepy.

The next day Sabina grabbed a couple bikes from the garage and we went riding on those natural bike-paths through the countryside outside Stuttgart. It was fantastic.

I lived in a little town called Oberensingen along the Neckar. The first thing I did was buy a bicycle. I spent many wonderful afternoons with my girlfriend riding the bike-paths along the Neckar. Later, in 1987-88, I lived in Berlin, which was a very different experience, but just as interesting as living in Swabia.

For those first six months in Swabia I was constantly comparing and contrasting German and American culture. It was both confusing and enlightening at the same time. There were days when Germans really got on my nerves. But then one day I woke up and it just hit me, “Oh, German culture is just different. Each culture has values and customs that make sense to ITS needs and history.” After that, I adjusted and learned to view Germany and Germans as a unique culture with its own peculiar strengths and weaknesses, just like any other culture.

*

weirdest thing about freaking nazis i could never understand:
since they were so much into Aryan purity and such bullshit, has anyone even taken a look at Hitler * ? i mean, not the best example of prussian-blue Aryan pride, innit?

* i usually write Hitler as sHitler, but i mean, this aint my blog so i shouldnt be swearing and all that..

Well, there sure are some ppl here who share his “fashion sense”, but I don’t know if they are his friends or not.

what does the village need to upgrade from crappy to not so crappy?

Mafdet: …a few sticks of dynamite…?

Excellent suggestion. Let’s do it.

@ Lynnette: Good comeback.

Sometimes my sis is teh w00t…

@ David: Explosives training?

@ Mafdet: What would I like to blow up? …the whole crappy village…?

Leave our house standing though, k…?

@ Caesar: You know I always worry… *hugs*

@ David: party with lots of beer, pretzels, and wieners

Drinking a lot of them do too much of already, pretzels they can’t bake (*refers David to Blackforest region or Bavaria where they know how to bake a decent pretzel*) and wieners…. blegh?

@ Mafdet: Can I have woodruff wine instead of beer, please?

@ David: Maybe the village could have a nude day in the spring?

@ Mafdet: Somehow, I just don’t think so…

Me neither, me neither…

@ David & Mafdet: Yadda-yadda-yadda

@ Lelly: I’ll Fräulein you in a minute, missy…..

@ Lynnette: I hate phones too! Why did you hate yours though?

Sorry, I had to vent somewhere.

Oh, is therapy session on again?

@ Mafdet: Can I buy a “t”?

Nah, sorry, don’t have any spare ones right now.

I do have comment preview though. Cos Lynnette wanted it. You’re allowed to use it too though. I’m sure Lynnette won’t mind.

@ David: I am still enjoying my Arkansas imitation Black Forest Ham.

Still? Isn’t it becoming ancient by now…?

@ Mafdet: come to the Black Forest. There you can taste the real thing.

It’d be funnier though if he spoke German. The disappointment is so much greater when you know the language and still don’t get a word ppl are saying to you, lol.

@ Jeffrey: Welcome.
Wow, that was quite a novel comment there.

Guess I’d have had quite a problem talking to that father; I am very much relieved to know that my forbears had no part in that at all.

Stuttgart, hm, we are kind of fond of the general Blackforest region, are we not, Mafdet?

something I had never encountered before in my life — roll-down shutters

Hm again. A lot of the quainter houses there wouldn’t dream of having roll-down shutters. How… modern and un-quaint.

Yeah, Berlin is a rather nice city… But then again I seem to like big cities anyway.

@ 13: i come here to find you grappling with skinheads! damn!

Yeah. And where were you? I thought you were gonna help me wrestle ‘em to the ground.

weirdest thing about freaking nazis i could never understand:
since they were so much into Aryan purity and such bullshit, has anyone even taken a look at Hitler? i mean, not the best example of prussian-blue Aryan pride, innit?

A question that has repeatedly been asked. Apparently they did not pay too much attention to the way he looked. (Not to mention that he wasn’t even from Germany…)

i usually write Hitler as sHitler, but i mean, this aint my blog so i shouldnt be swearing and all that..

Er.
1. Last time I checked, Hitler was not on my list of role models, idols and icons.
2. You can write pretty much what you like here, you unwashed cameldriver, you, and you should know it… Raghead…

@ Melantrys: Don’t wait so long to reply to the comments ever again; this was real work…

oh and please tell me youve seen The Hogfather? the miniseries? pretty good!

@ 13: Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr! *spank, spank, spank*

Have seen the Hogfather, yes. I do prefer the animated movies Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters though.

Hhhm, I really have to get my own copies of the early books…