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Working for a German Giant

Interview with Ted Bissell - Part 2

Introduction - Part 2

Ted Bissell, 32, was born in Ohio and grew up in Texas and Michigan. He has worked in Washington and Madrid and now lives in Paris. He lived in Gütersloh, Germany from 1991 to 1996 and worked for media giant Bertelsmann, most recently as Business Development Director for one of its new media subsidiaries. His job saw him traveling extensively, and he spent his free time experiencing European culture firsthand, visiting various friends and later his Hamburg-based girlfriend on weekends.

In his interview Bissell provides some valuable tips regarding several topics that should concern potential expats. — Do you bring your own car or buy one in Germany? What about the German corporate climate compared to the US? Should you find your own place to live, even if your company offers to take care of that? Can the German language help you win friends and influence people? Is "customer service" an oxymoron in Germany? And for non-smokers: is there such a thing as a no-smoking zone in Germany? Read on! [The first part of this interview]

Interview with Ted Bissell - Part 2 of 2

GW&M: Most Germans are extremely tidy and clean--almost to a fault. Could you comment on this aspect of German culture from your own perspective?

BISSELL: A lot of these attitudes came over to America with the immigrant German families to whom many Americans trace their ancestry. A lot of American communities are kept clean and I remember back to the discussions when our Texas neighbor wasn't mowing the lawn.

In Germany I had more difficulty with the rigid times when one was supposed to clean. I worked long hours or was away during the week, so Saturday morning was the only time to stock the fridge. Saturday was also supposed to be the day that I cleaned the apartment and did laundry, but I had other things to do weekends. If I did my clothes on Sunday or a weeknight I'd often come down to the basement to find a neighbor had turned off the machine in mid-cycle. I ignored letters requesting me to perform my shift of stairway cleaning duty since I would be equally criticized if I wanted to sweep at 11:00 pm. You can get away from this in an apartment building (incidentally, you can't be evicted for non-performance) but I would recommend that an expat think seriously about the expectations of the neighbors in keeping a standalone house kept up. It's probably easier to negotiate with the employer to pay for someone to do the work.

GW&M: What did you learn as an American in the German culture for a fairly long period of time?

BISSELL: Compared to Americans, Germans are less mobile and flexible. Germans would argue that their lifestyle is more stable, on the other hand. This explains a lot of differences in how people behave. German employees of a company in a small town don't want to move, ever. They will behave accordingly in avoiding getting fired. I wasn't alone in being unhappy with my dry cleaner, but in my five years there no one opened a better dry cleaner. I think I gained a pretty good understanding of German culture, even if that means I still don't accept the reasoning behind parts of it.

GW&M: Germans tend to be very health-conscious. Do you agree?

BISSELL: Americans are pretty health-conscious, too, aren't they? Sometimes I found contradictions in Germany. More than once I saw people smoking while riding a bike or at the juice bar of the racquet club. I found the German health system to be pretty good, but maybe that was because I was privately insured rather than being on the public health system. That tended to get appointments with doctors whose calendars were otherwise booked.

GW&M: You mentioned the "s" word: smoking. All the smoking in Europe bothered me, but there's not much one can really do about it. Have you noticed any increase in considerations for non-smokers in Germany lately?

BISSELL: Throughout Europe I think you have to accept the fact that people smoke quite a bit. I already mentioned my surprise at the health club and the cyclists. Work rules aren't quite as restrictive as in the US, in that those in shared offices either agree on smoking policy or upon disagreement the office becomes no-smoking. I too am bothered at restaurants. Most better restaurants have well-enforced no-smoking areas and--at the other end--McDonalds is no-smoking throughout the restaurant. You're not stared at if you ask for a no-smoking table or for that matter if you ask someone smoking in the non-smoking section to stop--unlike in France. Some discos have no-smoking nights. But if you plan to be a part of regular society you simply have to get used to having more smoke around than in the US, even if your clothes smell disgusting after coming home from a bar.

GW&M: Customers don't always get much respect in Germany. Do you have a favorite German customer service story?

BISSELL: The simplest one was the German DHL dispatcher whose excuse for not delivering a package was that it was raining.

GW&M: And your favorite?

BISSELL: One afternoon I arrived at my supermarket cheese counter at 6:20 (10 minutes before closing) and requested slices of cheese as was my habit. I was told I couldn't get any cheese sliced since they had to clean. I asked, "Until when can I get cheese sliced?" "6:20" "But it's now 6:20." "No, it's 6:21." I left frustrated but returned the next day at 6:15 to be sure to beat cleanup time. On that particular day they cleaned early, so still no cheese. That evening, I had dinner with friends who happened to know the head of the supermarket, who I called the next day, telling him that he should close the market at 6:00 pm since it wasn't possible to get serviced after that time. He responded that I could get service until 6:30 throughout the store. I went that evening to the cheese counter at 6:25 and asked for cheese slices and was naturally refused. I mentioned then that I had talked to the boss who told me I could have slices until 6:30. The server threatened to call the boss and I said I would be happy to wait for him. She then acquiesced and angrily pulled the cheese from the fridge and sliced for me on the freshly cleaned slicer, muttering out loud about her ruined free time. I thought the problem was solved until I returned at 6:20 a week later and was refused service. The server said, "We know we've had problems with you before, and we agreed with the boss to close the counter at 6:15." I responded, "I don't believe that. Let's call the boss now to discuss it. I'll wait." Her colleague volunteered, "Look, I haven't cleaned my slicer yet, you can use mine." The server glared at her but begrudgingly cut my slices of cheese. As I walked away from the counter they erupted into an argument heard throughout the store. These moments are best experienced in German.

GW&M: What is your impression of women's rights in today's Germany?

BISSELL: There has been some legislation recently changed preventing women from working at night. But I think it's difficult to point to specific laws giving women fewer rights than in the US. If anything, traditional attitudes about women and family prevail to impede the career paths of women. My university-educated female colleagues were able to progress I think just as quickly as men in their early careers. As they came up for more senior management positions though I think traditional attitudes became more important. I wanted to hire a female candidate for one of our new key positions, but was overruled from above with the argument: "She's a woman, has a boyfriend, might get married and have a child, and then what?"

There are structural impediments to working mothers, not the least daycare for children typically only after 3 years of age. My colleagues were shocked that a New York colleague would be back at work and attending a meeting four weeks after having her child.

GW&M: What were your impressions of the German political system? Do you feel that Germans are more, or less politically involved/aware than Americans?

BISSELL: Germans are certainly politically aware and certainly vote in far greater numbers than Americans. The political system is pretty sclerotic, however.

The consensus basis may have gotten Germany this far, but the major issues such as budgets and unemployment apparently can't be tackled by consensus any more. From my standpoint German politicians are less directly accountable for their actions. Voters typically elect a party rather than a particular representative, and parties fill out some of the available representative posts in the Bundestag [lower house of parliament] with politicians of their own choice.

So some representatives don't need to respond to constituent letters threatening, "vote my way or I won't re-elect you."

GW&M: How do you think Germans are coping with the computer age and technology?

BISSELL: Whenever I expressed surprise about the low use of technology in a country with a hi-tech reputation, my experienced colleagues explained that it's intellectual to be skeptical about anything new. I guess computing falls into this category. Only now does e-mail and computer use seem to be taking off.

But unlike senior citizens in the US who have jumped onto computing to stay in touch with their grandchildren, you'll never see anyone over 50 at a computer store. Also, schools view technology with disdain, but mainly because they don't have the budgets and because teachers haven't been exposed to computers themselves. I don't think the mass public has a financial or attitude problem with new technology for home use. A German working class family will spend $2000 for a big TV set and satellite antenna with all the gizmos, where the American equivalent might buy a $399 TV and a $1000 computer for the kids. In any case I think the lack of computing use is really holding back Germany's competitiveness in the information society. Can you name a German software company other than maybe SAP?

When my car radio was stolen I was surprised when the police officer hunt and pecked out the full-page report on a manual typewriter. He shrugged his shoulders when I asked if this couldn't be computerized.

GW&M: When I was writing The German Way, you and I discussed how German banks aren't generally very competitive. Is that changing at all?

BISSELL: Banks in Germany aren't very creative in offering new services to customers. They also don't necessarily see fees and services as a way of competing for customers. Plus their transaction fees on stock purchases are exorbitant. Most Germans are reluctant to change their bank anyhow. But yuppies do, and they're flocking to the direct banks that are new on the scene.

Expats should definitely select a bank that offers telephone banking and resist the temptation to walk to the local branch of one of the traditional banks. Those banks have inconvenient hours anyhow, and you can get cash from any ATM, pay bills by phone and would never want to pay the stock transaction fees they charge. Welcome, compared to the US, is a payment system based on direct debit and bank transfer. This meant I didn't have to sit down to pay bills every month and the odd bills from the garage or florist I could pay without sending a check. The system is based on trust but seems to work.

GW&M: Now that you've left Germany, what do you take away from the experience?

BISSELL: One of the things that brought me to Germany in the first place was a fascination of the mysterious German culture. I was able to satisfy a lot of my curiosity in the five years I lived there. In particular I take with me a profound sense of how German history affects the present. I also have a much greater appreciation for Germans' cultural contributions to what we know as Western Civilization. And of course I have developed lasting friendships.

Copyright © 1997-2004 Hyde Flippo

That's the end of this interview, but we have earlier ones. See below. [Part One of this interview]

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