There is no German word equivalent to "convenience," which makes sense because nothing here is convenient. They translate the English word as easy or comfortable, but Americans know the TRUE meaning of convenience (although most take it for granted).
1. Need something last minute for a project due the next day? Wal-Mart is open!
2. Have kids in car seats, but need to cash a check? Drive-thru at the bank!
3. Hungry for a quick bite between work and school? McD's is everywhere!
4. Exhausted from a road trip, but you realize your tank's empty at 1am? No problem, the pumps take cards 24-hours a day!
Here in Germany, convenience is hard to find. Nearly all stores close at 8pm, very little is open on Sundays, only McDonald's and Burger King have drive-thrus (none at banks, drug stores, etc.), and you're required to recycle, but you have to haul the stuff to the recycling place on your own. Okay, so they pick up the paper and organic stuff outside your house, but plastic, cans, and glass must be taken to a recycling site, which could be a few villages away.
Believe it or not, without "convenience," life here is still good! You just need to plan ahead.
Ha, I've been living in the States now for about 6 years and I think it took me 5 1/2 years to finally do a drive-thru at the bank to get some money. For some weird reason I found it was soooo strange to have a drive-thru at a bank since I was only used to the McDonald's ones in Germany ;-)
ReplyDeleteNow with 3 little kids I really appreciate having the option though ;-)