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I have an interesting anecdote to share, couple of years back I was working in an Indian branch of an MNC. The water from the tap on a wash basin had low pressu
by sumedh 10y ago
I have an interesting anecdote to share, couple of years back I was working in an Indian branch of an MNC. The water from the tap on a wash basin had low pressure and it was frustrating to wash your hands but I guess we never complained because in India you just accept such minor inconvenience.
One day the VP from the American HQ came to the Indian office and yes he was German, during the intro meeting he talked about the low pressure from the tap. The tap was changed the next day.
I still remember that story because it taught me how Indians look at their surroundings and how a German looks at the same surroundings.
- educar 10y agoI have a similar anecdote except the German in my story fixed the tap himself! I was squarely impressed with the skills an average German has.
- easilyBored 10y agoA lot of things are common sense. OK, "this part must go here because it looks like it does X." We just need a little motivation. Granted, doesn't mean you should rewire your house using YouTube videos
- jbigelow76 10y agoWatch enough YouTube videos and I hear you can build a whole house. http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/13/us/mother-house-youtube-build-trnd/ http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/13/us/mother-house-youtube-build-...
- _nedR 10y agoI am pretty sure that wiring your house is (rightly) illegal in many countries unless you are a licensed electrician, because of the fire Hazard and all.
- toomuchtodo 10y agoAt least in the US, if you apply for the permit and have a licensed electrician sign off on the job when it's done, you can perform the work yourself.
- mtempm 10y agoThis is so German actually. I've been living in Australia the past year (which has a lot of Germans) and twice I helped someone change a flat tyre. Both times a German also came to assist, and both times it was an American who didnt know how to change a flat (there arent that many of them in Aus).
- sverige 10y agoAs an American with some German ancestry, I find this to be very embarrassing. (The Swedes in my family can all change a tire as well, including my sister, but the German side is embarrassed.) Americans have become complacent and lazy, with no sense of "know how" or "make do." Hell, kids don't even know how to clean and cook a rabbit, let alone how to catch one with a snare. If the zombie apocalypse ever happened for real, The Walking Dead wouldn't last a full season. Everyone would starve to death.
- kodfodrasz 10y agoWould you risk eating a "zombie rabbit"? :)
- sverige 10y agoThe main thing is to check the liver for spots. If it has spots, don't eat the meat.
- a_bonobo 10y agoI assure you 99.99999% of Germans don't know how to clean and cook a rabbit.
- Arnt 10y agoYou're saying that there are only 8 Germans alive who can do it. Between 90 and 99% sounds more reasonable.
- 10y ago
- MrBuddyCasino 10y agoOr put differently: culture is a major driver. The culturally similar Austria and Switzerland, and to a certain extent the Scandinavian countries, have similar strengths. Sure there are some contributing factors (eurozone monetary policy, labour laws), but thats really the core. I feel like the education system, world class science institutes (Fraunhofer, Max Planck and Helmholtz) and pragmatic vocational training are really just a result of that.
- patrickg_zill 10y agoThis jives with my experience. One time in an expensive hotel in Asia, there were a few times when things were simply wrong, even though we had a named person assigned to our group as a manager to call on. I met with the German general manager and suggested that his systems for ensuring a quality experience were not correctly set up. He sat up straight in his chair and told me that he would deal with all the issues we had. From then on we had no more problems with the account manager...
- Gravityloss 10y agoProbably why there aren't much German software companies to write home about. Current software tradition is nothing but broken faucets.
- bostand 10y agoBut the few ones that still exist are producing highest quality software. Your car and the airplane you boarded last week probably both run German code.
- cJ0th 10y agoThe audio software industry is quite big. Most of the poplar DAWs are from Germany: Live, Cubase, Logic (at least before Apple bought it), Studio One, Samplitude and Bitwig. Many popular VST Plugins also come from German companies like Native Instruments, Celemony or U-He. Some other famous software companies: Avira, Crytek, SAP, Suse and Nero.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- cafard 10y agoUmpteen years ago, a woman of my acquaintance said that her bathtub had a very poor supply of hot water. I glanced behind it--it was freestanding--turned a knob till it stopped, and the hot water ran a lot better. To be sure, my last name reflects German ancestry, but so did hers.