Idiocracy in America

[Illusional]

Believe me I told him that. I was there for 15 minutes trying to tell him how ridculous it was for me to come back. But because he refused to do it, I went back out of spite.

i wouldn't just threw a handful of change at him for being so dumb.

raverboy

[IndiReloaded]

I hope you had a *really* great day for making some gas station guy feel dumb. Customers like you are what make them miserable to the rest of us.

What goes around, comes around, doll. Was it worth 11 cents, really to make someone feel bad?

[Petit Papillon]

I've had to get myself completely out of the "customer is always right" mentality since leaving America.

My British flatmate, who speaks excellent German, went to the bank to ask them to fix a mistake on his bank account - he was charged twice for a 100 euro purchase - and the service person was completely rude to him. When he asked to speak to a manager (who would be able to fix the problem), she said, "No." After some more arguing, she told him to "come back with someone who speaks German."

I think in America you'd get in serious trouble for treating a customer that way.

Yeah once I went to the shop(also in Germany).. Before I took 50 euro out of the cash automat so i knew exactly how much money i have...I went to the shop , bought,payed and I went straight to the bakery to buy a bread, It was about 1,30 EUR ,and I gave her 10 euros ,and this holy cow gave me the rest like from 5 EUR ... I thought to myself are You kidding me? And I told her that I gave her 10 Euros not 5 , really calmly... She said no, I gave her 5 . I said Are You kidding mee??? She said `no`, I said i want my funny money back and she said,if i want i can come back later when they will close the store, yeah right, besides there were already alot of people looking at me like on a cheater or something... I said ok I can go to the owner of the shop because actually I worked for him too but in another place... They said no ,no You don`t have to come in the end of the day....I took my stuff went back to work and told it to my manager ,he went there and got my money back... After this biatch said she`s sorry but i never went back there, stupid asses,anyway I don`t like bread :/

[Petit Papillon]

I hope you had a *really* great day for making some gas station guy feel dumb. Customers like you are what make them miserable to the rest of us.

What goes around, comes around, doll. Was it worth 11 cents, really to make someone feel bad?

Yeah actually I hate such customers too, I always told them in my mind to funk off But there are bigger amounts of cash that are worth to make someone dumb for it. I actually wanted to kick this woman in a face not because of the money but the way she started to talk to me

[doppelgaenger]

I don't think there's much else to say. Rollerderby, I say this with all due respect, but you are a moron. You're right - there is idiocy (idiocracy is not a word) in America... the idiots are the ones who waste their own time to make a hassle over 11 cents. What are you going to do? Did you need to buy some Ramen? Are you homeless? What's the excuse? Poor bastard probably thought about it all day.

If I order my sandwich in a certain way at Mcdonalds and they don't get it right the first time, I walk back to the counter, explain the situation in a friendly, forgiving tone to whoever comes up to serve me, and I get it taken care of. In fact, if I see the manager yell at any of the workers, I feel extremely bad. Makes me want to interrupt and tell them not to be a bastard. I've had a shitty job before... I know what it's like.

You should have just taken your 11 freakin' cents. Frankly, I don't think you deserve it. Why don't you work on your empathy? You know, what would life be like if you couldn't sit on your ass and drive anywhere? You wouldn't be able to do it if the 'idiots' as you call them didn't work in gas stations. If you have something to complain about, go make your own gasoline.

[Lipp]

Yep, as said, making a fuss over 11 cents goes both ways.

And as for germany, when visiting Berlin I got tired of that so few peeps spoke decent english in the shops, so I shut up and pretended to be german.

[doppelgaenger]

Not a lot of people in Germany speak good English. That's why you should learn German before coming to Germany.

That's a good reason to learn the national language of *any* country before going there. What did you expect?

[Lipp]

Meh, guess its just us scandis who are into learning both. Hell, even Lanka works perfectly with just english. Usually it applies that any capital city I've been to speaks it as a second language so that its easy to get by, or at least a significant amount does.

[lovesjoyajm]

And as for germany, when visiting Berlin I got tired of that so few peeps spoke decent english in the shops, so I shut up and pretended to be german.

Not a lot of people in Germany speak good English.

You two have no idea what you're talking about.

People in Berlin speak great English, and they're extremely gracious about speaking English as soon as they sense you're not a native German speaker. Berlin is probably the best European city to live in if you DON'T speak anything but English. You want to complain about language barriers? Go to France. Or Italy.

Unless by "decent English" you meant "fluent English", in which case, get over it.

[Petit Papillon]

You two have no idea what you're talking about.

People in Berlin speak great English, and they're extremely gracious about speaking English as soon as they sense you're not a native German speaker. Berlin is probably the best European city to live in if you DON'T speak anything but English. You want to complain about language barriers? Go to France. Or Italy.

Unless by "decent English" you meant "fluent English", in which case, get over it.

Ekhm , maybe in France they don`t speak well english, but I know many french people who speak englsih very good (like my bf) , and if they don`t speak english it`s possible they speak spanish or italian... And it`s not their fault they have dumb teachers,and they start to learn foreign languages when they are 12 or something... In Poland people start to learn foreign languages at 7, sometimes before

I know also germans that they speak very good english,and some that they don`t speak at all... It depends actually on place they live and goals they have in life ...

[lovesjoyajm]

I know also germans that they speak very good english,and some that they don`t speak at all... It depends actually on place they live and goals they have in life ...

Ehm, in case it wasn't obvious, I was generalizing, not referring to the English ability of each and every French/German citizen. In Berlin the chances of going into a shop and finding a shopkeeper who can speak English at least well enough to make a sale and see you out the door are very high. Furthermore, I know a number of English/American expats who live in Berlin without knowing a word of German and it barely makes a difference in their day-to-day life. I have no idea how someone would visit Berlin and come away with the idea that Berliners speak English (a foreign language) at a level that couldn't be deemed "decent".

[Petit Papillon]

Ehm, in case it wasn't obvious, I was generalizing, not referring to the English ability of each and every French/German citizen. In Berlin the chances of going into a shop and finding a shopkeeper who can speak English at least well enough to make a sale and see you out the door are very high. Furthermore, I know a number of English/American expats who live in Berlin without knowing a word of German and it barely makes a difference in their day-to-day life. I have no idea how someone would visit Berlin and come away with the idea that Berliners speak English (a foreign language) at a level that couldn't be deemed "decent".

Well I understand to visit a country and don`t know the main language of the country... But to live there for more than few months it`s just unpolite to not `know even a one word`,cause it`s their country not the person`s who comes there to live and they shouldn`t be forced , which actually happens if someone doesn`t speak their language, to use foreign languages .
Especially if people go to study there... It`s just unfair.

[lovesjoyajm]

Well I understand to visit a country and don`t know the main language of the country... But to live there for more than few months it`s just unpolite to not `know even a one word`,cause it`s their country not the person`s who comes there to live and they shouldn`t be forced , which actually happens if someone doesn`t speak their language, to use foreign languages .
Especially if people go to study there... It`s just unfair.

What?

You completely missed my point.

Never mind.

[Petit Papillon]

I know a number of English/American expats who live in Berlin without knowing a word of German and it barely makes a difference in their day-to-day life.

This is what I mean

[Lipp]

Meh, I didn't claim to have the accuracy of an in-depth study, it was merely a two-week stay during which when visiting several shops only perhaps 1 in 3 clerks would speak english at all, and even then having to repeat to get the message across, same applies to general peeps that me and my friend were hanging out with.

Day to day is easy as hell, it's hardly as if you need to talk at the supermarkets and at least the banks got employees know it.