There’s no word for express service in German because the concept doesn’t exist in Germany. Everything takes forever, from telephone installation to dry cleaning to email replies. Forget what you’ve heard about Germans being punctual as well: any given service you order probably won’t be ready at the time specified. This total disregard for punctuality also goes for trains, appointments, and village clock towers.
Of course, the absence of express service probably contributes a lot to the German quality of living. If deadlines are flexible, and nobody expects anything to done by tomorrow, let alone yesterday, everybody can just take it a little bit easy. People can leave work on time. Shops can close at 6 PM. TV primetime jumps forward to 8PM. Nobody stays glued to the TV until 11PM waiting for the results from Dancing with the Stars. A perfect world.
But, if you are used to getting your grocery shopping done on a Sunday or have your shoes fixed within the week, it is unbelievably frustrating. You have to plan ahead. Even remembering that there is no such thing as a convenience store is a lot harder than you would expect. It takes a lot of the spontaneity out of something like a Sunday afternoon picnic. On the other hand, because everything is closed on Sunday except ice cream stands and Greek restaurants, relaxation is almost mandatory. You can basically guarantee that, rather than catching up on paperwork or working a thankless retail shift, your friends will be available for said picnic - unless they’ve made a date to go hiking in the Schwarzwald or boating on the Bodensee or something equally sporty and carefree.
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