After two years in Switzerland, there aren't a lot of cultural quirks left to discuss, but I was reminded of one today when I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Try this out next time you walk into a waiting room in the States.
When there are one or more people sitting there waiting for the doctor, and a new person comes into the waiting room, the new person always addresses the group with the Swiss equivalent of "Hi, everyone." Everyone sitting there then responds with "hello" or "good morning" or something along those lines. Since no one is ever thrilled to be sitting in a waiting room at the doctor's office, I guess it makes us all feel like we're in it together or something.
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2 comments:
That's kind of a fun tradition. I think you should try that when you get back to the states...
I love that! I think part of what's wrong with our society in the states is that we don't acknowledge that we share the planet with anyone, much less the elevator or the waiting room!
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