1) Loading the Groceries
Seriously. I dreaded grocery shopping in the big grocery stores. I only wanted to go to Trader Joe's because it was small, manageable and the opposite of overwhelming. I think the worst part of the big stores is waiting in line at the check out. If there's a line it takes FOREVER because the checker is also required to bag the groceries if there's no designated bagger around. I never understood why customers just stand there staring while the checker scrambles to do all the work. I always bagged my own groceries at TJs. So shopping in Germany was an easy and welcome transition because you must bag your own. They don't do any bagging, which you will quickly discover as your groceries hit the floor one by one on the very short conveyor belt. The checker just keeps pushing items through, so you better be on your game. What people do is put their cart right at the end of the belt and literally just sweep their stuff into the cart. Its so fast. While you're on your game loading, you should be simultaneously getting your wallet ready because everyone else in line is staring at you and expecting efficiency. So the whole process of waiting in line is significantly shorter and you can be on your way. Side note: waiting times are even shorter because people buy fewer things and go shopping more often. Its extremely rare to see a cart filled up. Its more like five to ten items per visit.
Here's Part 1 of the best part. Since all of your groceries are back in the cart willy-nilly, its your responsibility to bag them. Most people go to their trunk and take their time putting things into bags or crates however they like it. The only bagger to blame for smashing your tomatoes is you. All the time it takes to put each individual item in a bag is your own time, not everyone else in the line.
Part 2 of the best part is that since the store isn't responsible for bagging the groceries, they don't have stacks of those white or brown plastic grocery store bags or even paper bags. Never mind double bagging which is so common in the US. Everyone, and I mean everyone, brings their own bags or, more likely, an actual basket. You would not believe how many people use Little Red Riding Hood-style baskets for their groceries. Men included. Its so adorable.
On the off-chance that someone forgets their bags there are reusable ones available to buy, but its really rare.
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| Here is my cart full of stuff. I took it to the ledge beyond the check-out for loading because we walked that day. |
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| *Actual* basket. I sometimes take our elderly neighbor to the store and this is what she uses. Skipping off to Grandma's house, are we?? |
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| My friend got this terrific box with a handy diagram from Edeka. |
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| And don't get me started on how much I love using a coin to get a cart. This ensures that there are exactly zero carts loitering around the parking lot. It seems like such a basic, easy, common decency thing to do. I used to get so annoyed with people being lazy and leaving them. Even when my kids were really little and it was inconvenient, I refused to just leave my cart! Its like Germany knows that its human nature to be lazy and do the easiest thing, so why not add a money deposit feature to encourage a little extra effort? It helps make the experience nicer for everyone. |
2) Beverage Service
Remember the days of waking up to a fresh delivery from the milk man? Neither do I! Today the glass bottle delivery is coming back as the hip, conscientious thing to do, but in Germany its always been the thing to do. Beverage delivery service is big here. There are warehouses in most towns that clean, sterilize, and reuse glass bottles for drinks which are delivered to your door in crates. The driver will return with new bottles and take away the old ones. Or you can get these from grocery stores, return them, and receive a deposit back.
Yes, there are plastic water and soda bottles in stores, but I love that you can choose glass and that so many people still do. I know that cheaper cost and ease of shipping is the main reason for plastic bottles, but I also think Americans have a problem with the idea of reusing someone else's bottle, even if its been sterilized. Like, it can never be clean enough, so just buy something brand new to be safe.
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| The weekly delivery of sparkling water to the Kindergarten. That's our house on the right behind the tree. |
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| We mostly drink tap water but enjoy the carbonated water from these glass bottles. Lots of people store stacks of these, or whatever kind of drink, in their basements. |
3) Car Trailers
Fact: Americans like their big trucks. The reason I've heard people give for why they own such large personal vehicles is that they need to haul stuff. Germans need to haul stuff, too, but you won't see hardly any big personal trucks here because, Fact: Germans like their BMWs and Audis. Enter the ubiquitous car trailers. Lots of people have one of these parked in their driveway and if you don't have one, just borrow your neighbor's. Every street seems to have a minimum of three. You can drive a regular car and hook up one of these babies when you need it. They come in different sizes and can haul just as much stuff as the bed of a truck. When I think about how often we, or the average person, needs to haul something large enough to necessitate a truck, its probably a few times per year. It doesn't seem like that's necessary for the other 361 days of the year. Just me?
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| You can leave the bed of your truck behind when you don't need it. Doesn't that make regular everyday driving and parking so much easier??! |
So there you have it. More convenient, practical, environmentally healthy ways of doing things that I really appreciate about Germany.
