Hey folks, I just got back from a nice little visit to Germany. I had more time than usual and the weather was splendid for the last several days, so I actually was able to get out and about in Munich and Rosenheim this time around. A few things struck me.

First off, it was really clean. I'm usually there in the winter when it's more difficult to notice such things. There is a definite local pride that goes along with having a homogenous culture. I stopped by the Rosenheim Bier Festival one evening and again noted the same thing. Though the place was packed to the gills with beer-chugging locals, the ground was free of trash. The crowds were such that the beer halls (actually enormous tents several hundred feet each crammed with hundreds of picnic-style tables) were overflowing to the point that it took us about half an hour to find a couple of seats, yet no one pushed or shoved and folks happily shared empty seats at their own tables when they became available. Thinking of the contrasting scene at our own state fair was depressing.

Secondly, it was friendly and safe. At no point did I feel that there was any neighborhood in which I would be unwelcome or in danger. Interestingly, as I commented about how courteous people always seemed in Bavaria, one of my hosts commented that the Bavarians are the more rude Germans while the truly courteous ones live in the north. I haven't spent as much time there (usually just in and out for a business meeting), but my colleagues from Bremen and Hamburg are among the friendliest people you're likely to meet, so I guess there could be something to that.

Thirdly, I didn't see any Mexicans, Hondurans, Salvadorans or Guatemalans having to do any of the jobs over there. Neither were there many Indians, Pakistanis or Arabs, though there were a few more in the city than out in the Bavarian countryside. As a matter of fact, all of the road crews, cooks, gardeners, etc. seemed to be actual Germans. Either the Germans are willing to do lots of jobs that Americans are not or else someone is lying to us about what jobs we would or would not do. Incidentally, these jobs were being done well. As I passed a McDonald's (I only pass them -- I don't eat there), a well-groomed German man in his mid-twenties or early thirties was vigorously scrubbing the windows to a perfect shine. I actually stopped and watched for a moment as this conscientious fellow rushed about his tasks which he carried out with typical Teutonic precision. It's no wonder that those guys make the Ultimate Driving Machine when they bring such vigor to simple tasks such as tidying up the local fast food establishment.

As I watched the well-choreographed hustle and bustle of the industrious German people, I had a little flashback to my youth, back when Dallas had a similar energy and charm. What I realized is that there seemed to be no demeaning job in Bavaria. Rather than the menial jobs dragging the German people down, the people elevated those jobs to their own little works of art, and in so doing they not only reaffirmed their own dignity but raised the standard of the community.

I remember when America used to be like that.