No! Do not do these things while shopping in Germany.
Hey everyone! I’m Dana and you’re watching Wanted Adventure Living Abroad.
I have already made several videos about grocery shopping differences in Germany versus the
USA as well as some videos about a few of the things that I still struggle with when grocery shopping
in Germany, so I will link to those down in the description.
I think by now I could probably start a playlist just on my grocery shopping videos.
Apparently grocery shopping is something that I think a lot about.
But anyway in this video it’s more about shopping no-nos in Germany in general, not
just at the grocery store, but I am going to start with a grocery store one.
Okay, so first one is: don’t expect to find sanitizing wipes for the shopping cart at
the front of the grocery store in Germany.
In the U.S. I do not remember seeing this in grocery stores when I was a kid, but starting
I think when I was in high school, that's when I began seeing quite a few grocery stores
putting these little containers of sanitizing wipes at the front of the store for cleaning
off the grocery cart handle.
So you could come into the store and you could take a sanitizing wipe if you wanted to and
clean down your grocery cart or the basket handle or whatever.
And I have never ever seen that at any grocery store I’ve ever been to in Germany.
Also going along with that, what's in the store, don’t expect to see in grocery stores
in Germany a scale for you to weigh yourself on.
I remember that lots of grocery stores in the U.S. would have a scale.
I don’t actually know why stores had that in the U.S.
But yeah, I’ve never been able to weigh myself on a scale in the grocery stores in Germany.
That's not something that I've seen here.
Another don’t when shopping in Germany is specifically for if you have driven to the
place you’re shopping at and parked in a parking garage.
And this one is actually kind of a two parter.
Part number one is: if it’s a parking garage that offers a certain amount of free parking
for people shopping at one or more of the stores associated with the parking garage,
don’t forget to get your parking ticket stamped at the store.
And number two: don’t try to pay your parking fee at the parking garage exit.
First you need to put your ticket into a little machine, pay the parking fee.
And then take your now paid for ticket with you and use that to exit the parking garage.
If you get to the exit and you have not paid for your ticket yet, you will not be able to exit.
And that could create unhappiness in the drivers behind you.
Don't do that.
But maybe it's not a store you’re not shopping at, but rather an outside market in Germany.
Well then, another don’t is: don’t just go grabbing at the fruits and vegetables,
picking out what you want and putting them in a bag. No.
You need to look around for a sign.
And at many of the little veggie markets or kiosks there are signs instructing you not to touch the food.
You need to wait until it’s your turn and then the person working at the kiosk will help you.
And I didn’t see the signs once and I made the mistake of trying to just pick out my
own fruit and I got scolded real bad. So don’t do it.
Also don’t automatically assume that the store you're shopping in will have a restroom
for customers in Germany.
In my experience, in the U.S. grocery stores and drug stores always have customer restrooms.
But in Germany that has not always the case.
It has happened to me several times that I’ve been in grocery stores or drug stores here
in Germany and I have looked around, but I couldn't find customer restrooms anywhere.
And then I’ve even gone and asked before like, excuse me, wo ist die Toilette?
Where's the restroom?
And I’ve been told by the people working there that there are no customer restrooms
available at the store.
And speaking of talking to people...another don’t is don’t expect to make small talk
with the cashier or other people in line at the check-out.
In the U.S. I often make a little small talk at check-out lanes, but here in Germany it’s
just not something that people commonly do.
Here in Germany it is polite to say hello when it's your turn and good-bye to the cashier
when you leave, but it is just not a thing here in Germany to make small talk at the store.
And lastly, this one is once again pretty much grocery store specific: don’t expect
someone to bag your groceries for you in Germany.
And if you didn't bring your own bag with you to the store -- which that one is actually a do.
Do try to remember to bring a bag with you to the grocery store.
But if you didn't bring a bag with you, don’t forget to grab a bag before you get to the
end of the check-out lane.
So in Germany the bags are often located underneath the conveyor belt, so you can grab one when
you’re putting your things on the conveyor belt.
And the bags cost money in Germany, so the cashier will scan the bag as they're scanning
the rest of your stuff, and then they'll pass it down to you for you to then put your groceries into.
So my question for you is: what other shopping don’ts are there in Germany or around the world?
And also what shopping dos are there?
Please let me know in the comments below. Thanks so much for watching.
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And I have been doing the Instagram stories in German. So far.
I started doing them a little bit ago.
And I've been doing them at least mostly in German.
So if you'd like to check those out I will leave a link to my Instagram
down in the description below.
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Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
Bye! Oh, I'm okay.
Also don't automatically assume that your store...the store you're shopping in!
I keep wanting to say "the shtore you're shtopping in."
Okay, okay. I'm ready.