This will sound weird but I am curious and I gotta ask now or I'll forget 😅
In your country (or one where you know that), do cashiers in the supermarket *always* have a seat? 🪑
I start: Germany, yes they do.
Discussion
Usa no
Yeah I heard this some years ago from the US and it just blew my mind. I never thought of the possibility. Afaik some European based chains in the US have seats but not sure.
Nahhh no one sits here in the usa in retail trust me. All i shop is retail.
More oof. Naive me had a little hope
You wanna know who's cleaning all the McDonald's? Wendy's, Taco Bell KFC Burger King. You wanna know who's cleaning all those places? It's not young kids, it's senior citizens. The ones keeping those places alive inside. It's not teenagers, no teenagers work at fast food restaurants here in United States. It's all Sr. citizens, American Sr. citizens and immigrants. And no one sits anywhere you cannot sit. Hahahaha
Here they collect bottles to cash in the pawn (there is a recycling system here that pays some cents for empty bottles)
Anyhow, sick sad world
Ya we have tgat its still 5 cent a can though hahahaha
So for the recycling system here, United States, anything you buy at the store That's in a aluminum Can you get charged five cents extra for the can
Similar here, but also glass and plastic bottles. Very popular source of income for homeless and elderly
Are people going to look at me weird if I asked why?
Because social security is not enough to retire on. And if they don't go work at a retail place or at a part-time they can make ends meet and they become homeless. No one is taught in the United States that they need to invest their money into something when they start working at 18 19 20 years old, no 1 is taught that here in the United States.
There may be some irony in this conversation being started by a German... America still lives by the "Protestant work ethic," which started in Germany. People forgot the reasons, but the attitudes remain.
What are Protestant work ethic vs modern Germany work ethics?
I suspect Germany has moved on. But idk, never been... Mina?
No work ethic says “bro, you can’t have a 🪑”. It has anything to do with work ethics.
AI:
“In Germany, the Protestant work ethic remains influential, particularly in its emphasis on precision, efficiency, and quality (often encapsulated in the idea of "German engineering"). Germans value work-life balance, reflected in shorter workweeks and strong worker protections. The ethic persists, but it's tempered by a collective focus on well-being and sustainability.
In the United States, the work ethic has become deeply embedded in the "American Dream" narrative, emphasizing self-reliance, hard work, and upward mobility. However, in recent years, younger generations have begun to challenge the notion of overwork, emphasizing mental health, flexibility, and pursuing meaningful work. The hustle culture, though, still thrives in many sectors, particularly in tech and finance.”
Of course it says you can't have a chair. What's the reason any employee would cite? Laziness, or maybe they think standing equals more engaged with the customer, which means work.
The reason I say it comes from Protestant work ethic is because that work ethic literally defined American culture before the 20th century. Almost everyone who came from Europe was a Protestant. That work ethic was a huge deal in Germany, the Netherlands, and England. Probably Scandinavia too, but idk much about them.
But the thing is, its not only a glorification of work for work's sake. Its also the shaming and judgement that goes along with Christianity. The Protestant Work Ethic synergized with the Puritans and their concept of a "city on a hill" - in which they specifically believed that society should be everyone watching every detail of everyone's life so they could "be thy brother's keeper." If it sounds creepy and horrible, that's because it is.
That's the main defining feature of early american culture... Unfortunately. And we still have it.
This is one of the things I consciously think about over the years. Smart > Hard. Most of the time 🙂
Definitely. But... You know how many times people have chosen to punish me for doing things a better way? Literally every time. A **_really_** smart person would do everything wrong, so that everyone feels superior to them, so they treat that person nicely. But that's not me...
"It's dangerous to be right when the authorities are wrong.”
Voltaire
Good one. Is it real? I met Voltaire... Knew him as Francois, though. Loooong time ago...
😂 what? How old are you?
Oh that's honestly hard to say. Every century or so I have to rejuvenate in my hidey hole in Tibet.
Voltaire also said when someone says “hides hole” to you, they’re full of shit.
“Hidey hole”
Well Voltaire was full of shit, so... Shrug
🤷🏻♂️
They named a fungus after his most famous play. Teheheheeeee
I didn’t even know he wrote plays.
It was a short story. I misspoke. But he did write plays. And that big mess in France is all his fault.
Show me where in the doctrine it says, “Thou shall not 🪑 “
What’s an example of a European based chain?
I am not sure, is there Aldi or Lidl? I think it was one of those two but it's been years 😅
I’ve been to Aldi, I couldn’t tell you if the clerks had seats or not.
Are you telling me Germans are kinder folks than Americans?
Or maybe “more thoughtful”
I'm not trying to imply anything 😬 maybe it's law here, I don't know tbh
We mostly don’t have cashiers anymore. Mostly self checkout
We still have plenty of cashiers. I think the Germans just out classed us here. 😄
Let me know if you go again 😄 but as I said it's been a while when I heard this so it also may have changed. I was generally curious if seats are a German only thing or more wide spread
I am tempted to go right now. I don’t know why I’ve never considered this before this post.
I didn’t have to, found a picture on google maps of the store nearby.
🤯 why haven’t I noticed this before? Anyone else from other countries?
I would also like to see more countries here. maybe nostr really has only 17 users 😆
That reminds me. nostr:npub1gluh6ns2vsxg493a87n3m8c2d2ketzh62p07lhkad4ffaaqj9mesu6d3sz does your grocery store have seats for cashiers in Romania?