I can finally say I’ve been skiing in the Alps now. Snowboarding, actually. I went with American co-worker to a place called Flims about 2 hours out of Zurich. My legs held up much better than I expected and we got lots of good runs in. It was fun, the sun was peaking through a fair amount, and the conditions were good. I finally realize now that the snowboard I had back at home was completely wrong for me. It was way too large. The rental I had was smaller and narrower and I now know what it’s like to be in complete control. I didn’t take a camera and nothing very eventful happen so I’m just using this as a jumping off point for a topic I’ve been meaning to write about for a while now.
People in Switzerland hate lines. They don’t think the line is there for them. They just view it as an obstacle they need to overcome to get served. It’s so strange. I’ve never seen anybody actually cut right in the middle of a single file line, but we have often seen people just go straight to the front. They will sidle up along to the checkout and then just step up to the counter when the person being served is finished. This has happen personally to Chiz in a book store and almost happen to me at a department store but the cashier didn’t let them get away with it in my case. I wish she had, because I was totally in the mood to call her out and ask what the hell she thought she was doing. This was a classic snotty Zurich woman too and it would have been immensely satisfying to bitch her out in English.
In places where actual lines are more amorphous, it is a complete free-for-all. Lunch counters and delis are insane. A dude will walk into a packed lunch spot, march straight to the front and begin to order. Nobody ever says anything about it. It’s just the Swiss way.
The other place this phenomenon is noticeable is in grocery stores when a new lane opens up. In America, the cashier will walk up to the person who is very next in line and tell them they are opening up a lane so they can be first. In Swizerland, the cashier will just open up the lane and the very last person in a different line will run to be first. Nobody seems to think it is strange. On a related grocery store note, the cashiers have this rule that if nobody is actually in line at that very moment, they close the lane completely. The store will be busy and it is clear more people will want to check out very soon, but they will not wait a single second if there is only one person in line. They will grab the “Lane closed” sign and put it on the conveyor belt right behind the items and stare you down if you make a move towards them. Then, two minutes later when the line you are in gets a bit long they will show up again from the break room and the last person in line will jump to the front of the new one.
So anyway, it was with somewhat humorous resignation that I let all the pushy Swiss people fight their way past me in the ski lines this weekend.
Nice to hear you got a little "riding" in. You can swing by Chizzy's work every day, and ask people in the elevator if they're "ridin' today?"
Did you run into any resistance to boarding over there? It seems like it might be like the hoity east coast resorts here that don't allow boarders. BTW, I can totally see why a line of snowboarders sitting down having a smoke, just over the crest of a hill can be incredibly annoying and dangerous but the problem should be solved another way.
Funny you mention lines. When I was leaving Zurich, we were waiting in a long line for security. This total Swiss guy with a business suit and briefcase came walking by and I thought he was going to a chair at the side of the line. But no - he just went like 10 people up and cut in line where someone wasn't paying attention. I actually started yelling "Hey - Hey- HEY" to get his attention. He looked back and I yelled up statements about how he didn't see a line here or was I just waiting in the line for fun. He actually got kind of a sheepish look after I loudmouthed enough and just turned around and wouldn't look back. Since I didn't have anyone with me (and in all fairness - making a scene in the security line is questionable), I couldn't take any additional action to embarras or degrade him. It's always funny though when no one in the line backs you up at all. I'm sure in the states the guy he cut in front would have been like "allright buddy - back of the line".
It remindes me of a similar story of an American friend in France that single handedly shouted down a pickpocket on the Metro (in English, French and Spanish), took his bag and got her own purse back out of it. All while none of the other riders lifted a finger, or expressed any emotion other than embarrassment at the scene that was made.
Bryan, January 31, 2006 10:49 AM:Skiers outnumbered the boarders by a pretty big margain and it looked like the division was along the same demographic lines as in the states. In general, young people board and old people ski. Funny you mention stopping on the crest of a hill and having a break though. When I do stop, it is always at the crest of a hill and in plain sight. There was one time this weekend where a woman went skiing by and gave us the evil eye and shouted something at us. We figured we might not have been far enough to the side or something. That was the only boarder hatred I noticed, but I wasn't really looking for it either because I hadn't heard they had problems with boarders.
Oh yeah, the line cutters will never look you in the eye or try to apologize that they are in a real hurry or anything. They will just stride right up like it is their right. Odd.
CMH, February 6, 2006 06:26 PM:All lines should be like the bank and the post office - 1 line for all tellers/checkers/registers then the person at the front of the line goes to the next available slot. Think about how much stress this would save us all!
Nick, February 9, 2006 10:42 PM:Good stuff. Klisch did you listen to that Dane Cook CD? There's a bit about the line at Walgreen's that's pretty insane...