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As someone from the Netherlands this was interesting to read. My one nitpick is that the author seems to switch between Berlin/Germany and the EU as a whole a f

As someone from the Netherlands this was interesting to read. My one nitpick is that the author seems to switch between Berlin/Germany and the EU as a whole a few times making the reader think that some things might apply to the entire EU. Which isn't the case, this article is mostly about Germany and really specific to Berlin as well. Some examples: - Sunday shopping: Totally a thing here in the Netherlands. - Smoking: A lot of people smoke here, but it certainly does feel like a lot less people than in Germany, and it certainly is allowed in fewer places. - Alcohol: Yes, in the Netherlands you can also drink on the street. In Germany and Berlin specifically, it is also part of the drinking culture, it seems. Certainly Germany has a different drinking culture where there is much more strong liquor available in supermarkets where in the Netherlands you need to go to liquor stores or a special closed section of the supermarket. Again, mostly nitpicks but worth enough to point out imho.

sebtron 2y ago
> - Sunday shopping: Totally a thing here in the Netherlands. I guess it varies significantly by city then, because until a year ago or so the main shopping street here in Leiden was 90% shut on Sundays. More recently I have seen more and more shops stay open on Sunday too, not sure why they changed, but I am glad they did :)
- raxxorraxor 2y ago
  I thoroughly enjoy the silent Sundays. I don't know why so many people require Sunday to be open, especially if so many of them allegedly suffer from stress and a too "fast" lifestyle. Going out on Sundays here is awesome. Yes, of course that requires people working too. Perhaps not fair for the many that need to work, but there are a few advantages.
  - keiferski 2y ago
    Yeah at first, the rules like closed shops on Sunday seem annoying, but as time goes on I now enjoy the forced quietness. If only because it adds some flavor to the week, making Sunday not just another day indistinguishable from every other.
  - mathverse 2y ago
    Because it's an absolute crap. In Germany the workaround is gas stations that were converted into grocery stores. Even in my country where shopping is only closed on pub holidays the gas stations now serve as grocery stores and bake fresh bread on those days. It's just populism.
    - LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
      'Fresh'? Oh! Really?
  - sebtron 2y ago
    I understand that, I guess you can't make everyone happy at the same time :) For me the issue is that those same shops are usually open 10:00 to 17:30 or so. Which is also the time I work, which means I was forced to go on Saturdays (like most other people). If I had other plans for Saturday, tough luck.
  - sebst 2y ago
    I enjoy silent days, too! Yet, I certainly don’t need a government to mark my calendar with those
    - rglullis 2y ago
      The alternative is to have everyone being forced (ahem, "incentivized") to work all the time, and having rest days becoming a privilege only for white-collar workers.
      - yorwba 2y ago
        You can have a mandatory minimum number of rest days without fixing when those rest days are. In fact, this is already how it works for those professions that are allowed to work on Sundays; their rest day might just be a Tuesday instead.
        rglullis 2y ago
        Could you imagine how that would play out in case we started applying this logic everywhere, and we completely lost the concept of "the weekend"? - "I know that this is your day off, but everyone will be requested to come to work this Wednesday because the team is about to miss the sprint goal" - "Now that banks and stock markets open on Saturdays and Sundays, we will have to have everyone on call rotation, all week long." - "We do not have the budget to increase our team by 2/7, so everyone will have to pick up the slack" - "Sorry Jane, your refusal to continue on a strict Mon-Fri schedule is hurting your chances of making progress on this company. Yeah, I know you have children and that schools are not open all week long, but Mary has been showing up whenever asked and she seems to be more reliable". This idea of "individuals should be free to choose all the time" is also another good example of cultural differences between North Americans and Europeans. Look at the American companies that claim to offer "unlimited PTO", but when you probe it a bit further and ask how many vacation days employees took on average, the recruiter will tell you "oh, about 12 days". This idea of "freedom to choose" works mostly to get in favor of the system to get peons pitting against each other. The only way to have the majority of people benefiting from a community-level policy is to apply it at that level.
- creesch 2y ago
  Fair, I should have clarified that I am mostly talking about supermarkets. These close fairly early in Germany on weekdays (where here they are often up until 9 in the evening) and are all closed on Sundays.
  - sebtron 2y ago
    Oh yeah, no problem at all with supermarkets, I can go at any time I want!
  - purerandomness 2y ago
    In bigger cities, they're usually open until 22:00 or 0:00 (except in Bavaria). In Berlin, depending on where you are, you even got your friendly Späti around the corner which is open around the clock, where you can get food, drinks, bread and some hygiene products. It really varies regionally.

sebtron 2y ago

> - Sunday shopping: Totally a thing here in the Netherlands. I guess it varies significantly by city then, because until a year ago or so the main shopping street here in Leiden was 90% shut on Sundays. More recently I have seen more and more shops stay open on Sunday too, not sure why they changed, but I am glad they did :)

raxxorraxor 2y ago
I thoroughly enjoy the silent Sundays. I don't know why so many people require Sunday to be open, especially if so many of them allegedly suffer from stress and a too "fast" lifestyle. Going out on Sundays here is awesome. Yes, of course that requires people working too. Perhaps not fair for the many that need to work, but there are a few advantages.
- keiferski 2y ago
  Yeah at first, the rules like closed shops on Sunday seem annoying, but as time goes on I now enjoy the forced quietness. If only because it adds some flavor to the week, making Sunday not just another day indistinguishable from every other.
- mathverse 2y ago
  Because it's an absolute crap. In Germany the workaround is gas stations that were converted into grocery stores. Even in my country where shopping is only closed on pub holidays the gas stations now serve as grocery stores and bake fresh bread on those days. It's just populism.
  - LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
    'Fresh'? Oh! Really?
- sebtron 2y ago
  I understand that, I guess you can't make everyone happy at the same time :) For me the issue is that those same shops are usually open 10:00 to 17:30 or so. Which is also the time I work, which means I was forced to go on Saturdays (like most other people). If I had other plans for Saturday, tough luck.
- sebst 2y ago
  I enjoy silent days, too! Yet, I certainly don’t need a government to mark my calendar with those
  - rglullis 2y ago
    The alternative is to have everyone being forced (ahem, "incentivized") to work all the time, and having rest days becoming a privilege only for white-collar workers.
    - yorwba 2y ago
      You can have a mandatory minimum number of rest days without fixing when those rest days are. In fact, this is already how it works for those professions that are allowed to work on Sundays; their rest day might just be a Tuesday instead.
      - rglullis 2y ago
        Could you imagine how that would play out in case we started applying this logic everywhere, and we completely lost the concept of "the weekend"? - "I know that this is your day off, but everyone will be requested to come to work this Wednesday because the team is about to miss the sprint goal" - "Now that banks and stock markets open on Saturdays and Sundays, we will have to have everyone on call rotation, all week long." - "We do not have the budget to increase our team by 2/7, so everyone will have to pick up the slack" - "Sorry Jane, your refusal to continue on a strict Mon-Fri schedule is hurting your chances of making progress on this company. Yeah, I know you have children and that schools are not open all week long, but Mary has been showing up whenever asked and she seems to be more reliable". This idea of "individuals should be free to choose all the time" is also another good example of cultural differences between North Americans and Europeans. Look at the American companies that claim to offer "unlimited PTO", but when you probe it a bit further and ask how many vacation days employees took on average, the recruiter will tell you "oh, about 12 days". This idea of "freedom to choose" works mostly to get in favor of the system to get peons pitting against each other. The only way to have the majority of people benefiting from a community-level policy is to apply it at that level.
creesch 2y ago
Fair, I should have clarified that I am mostly talking about supermarkets. These close fairly early in Germany on weekdays (where here they are often up until 9 in the evening) and are all closed on Sundays.
- sebtron 2y ago
  Oh yeah, no problem at all with supermarkets, I can go at any time I want!
- purerandomness 2y ago
  In bigger cities, they're usually open until 22:00 or 0:00 (except in Bavaria). In Berlin, depending on where you are, you even got your friendly Späti around the corner which is open around the clock, where you can get food, drinks, bread and some hygiene products. It really varies regionally.