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Bullwinkle58 -> RE: OT: Stereotypes about Germans in the US (5/11/2012 3:40:47 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Gräfin Zeppelin
Some stuff is scary, especialy the "Hands under the table part" After a brief second I realized its true and even the thought about someone siting at my table without having the hands on it makes me upset O.o
KEEP YOUR FRIGGIN HANDS WHERE I SEE THEM OR ELSE !!!!!!
Huh. Cultural differences. If you had observed this habit in my childhood home you would have gone very hungry. My mother, Canadian but raised by a Victorian English father, considered the non-forked hand in sight to be a sin worthy of banishment from the table. It went in the lap. Period. "Elbows off the table" was never discussed. Too horrible.
Looking these rules over I was also struck by the "face forward to leave" one. I was reminded of an old psychological study by a team of scientists who rode on NYC subways for weeks, observing gender behavior. They observed that almost all the time, when people passed each other to get on or off the train, males turned toward the other person (of either gender), and females turned away. They speculated that men were inherently defensive and looking for aggressive acts, while women were protective of their reproductive and nursing areas and similarly acting according to their wiring. Evolution at work.
In the US there's also a huge gender stamp in how men and women examine their fingermails. Men curl and glance, women extend their hands with fingers up and spread. Next time you're with friends getting drunk, propose an unannounced test. Laugh at the men who get it wrong.
Lastly, I myself have conducted research in fast food joints over the years. Men and wonen, paper-wrapped drinking straws. Women--gently tear the paper down the length of the straw, extract it, place it in the drink. Men--wrap the entire hand around the straw and slam it onto the table endwise, forcing the straw to be rammed through the paper and extend past the foresk . . . protective layer. Make of that what you will.
The same in Germany? Perhaps there men stand up to ram their straws? [8D]
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