I imagine the most common stereotype worldwide of the Germans is that they make the trains run on time. Well, I am unhappy to report that on the basis of my experience yesterday, that is a completely undeserved reputation. I was supposed to leave Berlin for Hamburg at 13:18, but the train had a 120-minute delay. I’d say maybe this was an exception, and maybe it was the Czechs’ fault in that the train was coming in from Prague. But more than half of the other trains leaving Berlin Friday afternoon were also delayed. And when I went to ask if there was a faster train I could switch to, the unhappy clerk kept muttering to herself, “immer Frietags,” always on Fridays.
Another, perhaps lesser-known reputation the Germans have is for being indifferent to customers. Unfortunately, this reputation often seems more deserved. Yesterday, while about 40 of us waited to speak to DeutscheBahn ticket agents, two clerks sat at their desks behind their large “Geschlossen/Closed/Ferme” signs, chatting and organizing their desks for about 20 minutes, seemingly in absolutely no hurry to make the line any shorter.
Then I went to a coffee bar to buy a hot tea to drink while waiting. I asked for a large size, but the man behind the counter pointed to the sign above his head and explained that there was no large size for tea – only small – even though the large cups sat right there next to the small ones. I asked whether he could simply give me a small tea, but with mehr wasser. Judging from his reaction, it seemed as though no one had ever asked for or suggested this before. But after thinking it over for a moment, the man agreed and made me a large tea.
