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> In Berlin, capital, you see more people that are searching for food, empty bottles, and are in hartz and people look at them as dead animals. Context for the

> In Berlin, capital, you see more people that are searching for food, empty bottles, and are in hartz and people look at them as dead animals. Context for the bottle thing: Germany has a deposit on bottles that gets refunded in cash when you return a bottle to any supermarket. It's up to €0.25 for plastic bottles which is quite a bit, so some people collect bottles that others have thrown away. (This is also why it's nice to put your bottle next to the bin rather than in it if you're not returning it yourself – saves people the hassle of rummaging around in there.) I can't personally confirm the "looking at people like they're dead animals" thing, although I do admit that you get a bit jaded when you've been asked for spare change for the third time in a row on the same S-Bahn train.

lucaspiller 10y ago
I'm currently living in Rome and it's pretty much the same here. If you sit outside having a coffee in certain areas people will come by asking for change - you usually see the same people everyday. In the tourist areas you will be approached a million times to buy selfie sticks or other junk by street vendors. I regularly see people rummaging through rubbish bins to see what they can salvage, and if someone dumps an appliance on the street (this is how they "recycle" here in Italy) things like the motor and cables will be gone in a few hours. The scary thing is a lot of people you see are young people - they've clearly just been failed by the system. I'm from the UK and lived in London a few years ago ('09 - '11) and I remember seeing a few people begging but they were usually drunkards. I don't remember so many young people, or getting approached to give money as much as here. I wonder how the UK does things differently to Germany and Italy?
- ido 10y ago
  The German example above is exaggerated (I live in Berlin myself). Italy, like most of southern Europe, has a huge problem with youth unemployment that Germany & the UK generally do not share.

lucaspiller 10y ago

I'm currently living in Rome and it's pretty much the same here. If you sit outside having a coffee in certain areas people will come by asking for change - you usually see the same people everyday. In the tourist areas you will be approached a million times to buy selfie sticks or other junk by street vendors. I regularly see people rummaging through rubbish bins to see what they can salvage, and if someone dumps an appliance on the street (this is how they "recycle" here in Italy) things like the motor and cables will be gone in a few hours. The scary thing is a lot of people you see are young people - they've clearly just been failed by the system. I'm from the UK and lived in London a few years ago ('09 - '11) and I remember seeing a few people begging but they were usually drunkards. I don't remember so many young people, or getting approached to give money as much as here. I wonder how the UK does things differently to Germany and Italy?

ido 10y ago
The German example above is exaggerated (I live in Berlin myself). Italy, like most of southern Europe, has a huge problem with youth unemployment that Germany & the UK generally do not share.