Kapitel 7 Kultur Texte

While reading Einkaufen and Bargain Buys, I was surprised to find out that these supermarkets charge for plastic bags. Neither of the articles specify whether the charge on the bags is put on by the supermarkets themselves or the government. I can see how it might be profitable for either one of those entities, but I think that it is the government that puts these charges on the plastic bags (please tell me if you know otherwise). This would make sense because from what I have heard and read about Germany, they are a very "green" country and putting a charge on plastic bags would certainly reduce the amount of plastic being used. This is something that I think should be instituted in the United States, or at least experimented with in certain parts, because it seems to work in Germany as is evident in Bargain Buys when the author says that he exited to the line to bag his own groceries in his own bags. It seemed strange to me that there has been an emergence in the supermarket stores like Aldi and Walmart. I had always been under the impression that Germany, along with many other European countries, valued fresh products. Clearly no one is buying the moldy vegetables and fruit from those places, but I did not expect Germans to even think about going to stores like that when so many other products there have been processed and modified that little of what the name of the product is is even in there.

Both Bargain Buys and What Discipline describe the frenzy that occurs when dealing with checkout lines. To me, there is no difference in what is said here than what I experience when I go shopping. If I see that a checkout line is opening, I'm not pointing it out to the person behind me that it is opening, I am jumping out of line and heading right at it. Now when it comes to cutting in front of people, the Germans may be a little extreme. If the person in front of you seems to not be paying attention and is leaving a large void in the line, then maybe it is okay to cut in front of them. Unless that is happening I think that one should just stay in their spot in line.