I’ve been to Germany more than once. I found the people there charming and friendly, from lorry drivers and waitresses to teachers and business people. Even here on the Costa Blanca German women are often a delight. So why do German men here tend to be such poor ambassadors for their country?
I’m not just talking about the way that, as soon as there’s any sun, they take off their shirts to show us all their beer bellies. I’m talking about unawareness and downright rudeness. German men will barge in front of you, bump into you, cut you off in their cars, you name it. More than once I’ve been waiting at a supermarket lift with my shopping trolley, only to have a German man come up and thrust his trolley into the lift in front of me, as soon as the doors began to open. When about to pay at a petrol station, I’ve had a German man walk in to the shop and try to pay before me.
The German for ‘good manners’ is gutes Manieren. You might not know the expression. Nor, it seems, do some German men on the Costa Blanca.
