Comments on: Part whatever of ‘If it hadn’t happened to me, I wouldn’t believe it’.

By: Flag

Flag — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:57:28 +0000

This happened to J recently except that in the US he gave insurance info to the other driver. There was no damage to our car at all. The other driver made a claim and I have no idea how much our insurance company paid to “fix” the other car. I guess I will find out when we renew the policy to see if they will raise our rates.

By: Dominik

Dominik — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:02:53 +0000

Imho, acting cool and patient (even when boiling inside) is the best way to act in such a situation.

btw. I was once in a similar situation (an old, rich … bitch in her mercedes caused a visible scratch on my car). I was fine without the police, but she insisted that I’d just say that to rip her off afterwards and we call the police.

When the police came I remained calm, however remarking that I would have been fine without the police, but the lady insisted on calling them.

They gave her a ticket.

Wenn man auf so Choleriker trifft, ist es immer am Besten sie merken zu lassen, daß sie im Prinzip gegen ne Wand reden. Wobei es lustig ist, ab und zu einen trockenen, sarkastischen Kommentar einzuwerfen, der sie nur noch mehr auf die Palme bringt.

PS: The conversation with your boss in some way reminds me of the dialogue of Vincent Vega with his Boss, after accidently shooting the guy in the face in Pulp Fiction…

Dokumentation ist immer wichtig. Fotos der Autos, Fotos des Unfallhergangs

By: snooker

snooker — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:34:40 +0000

I have been in similar situations and they simply suck. There seems to be no way to win.

My German wife told me that being sane, quiet and reasonable was simply the WRONG way to act. That being perceived as passive would signal to the other person that you are weak and they would be able to “run” over you. When I told her that I don’t have enough grasp over the language to fight back effectively she suggested that I should simply shout even louder in English using lots of the direct translation “bad names” including “idiot” and “asshole”. Sad thing… it has happened to me several times since, and she was right. They shut right down.

By: shadowboxer

shadowboxer — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:02:40 +0000

Thanks for sharing this story. I was an expat in Germany for over 10 years. Sometimes I forget about this side of Germany. I have a slight dark tinge to my skin (native american) and I swear that Germans created situations just so they could yell at me. The interesting part is that I am 1/2 German and grew up thinking I was as German as anyone else. I now live/work in a 3rd world country. I share absolutely no ethnic background with the native population. It is obvious that I am a foreigner, but after 4 years I have never had a similar situation as I experienced on a weekly basis in Germany. Although, I miss a lot about Germany, this is a part that I like to forget. Off topic, I especially miss the sweets. I became addicted to a sweet biscuit called Knoppers. I wish they would export them.

By: J

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:05:11 +0000

Ian, trust me, my blood was boiling, but I decided to use my teacher patience to attempt to reason with her. We all know how quickly Germans fly off the handle, so all I could do was hope to calm her down by maintaining a level head.

Quite frankly, I wanted to strangle the bitch for making an awful day even worse.

By: ian in hamburg

ian in hamburg — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:51:16 +0000

Never get into a wrestling match with a pig. You have to get down to their level, you get mud all over you, and the pig’s the only one enjoying himself. Good for you for not losing your cool. I probably would have.