.....................

You truly are confloozed huh...

NO, it should not be just ''Swiss'' people that make the change, if I live and work and pay taxes here I am absolutely entitled to voice my opinions about the place I live and work and pay taxes in. Ridiculous!

Like was mentioned before on this thread, what is wrong with making observations or criticizing something you don't agree with? Why does mentioning some aspects you liked about your home country = ''my home county is Utopia''? That is such a narrow-minded way of thinking, especially refusing to take any criticism or making statements like, ''go back home''. How in the world do you think things improve otherwise??

Anyway, yes, there are probably some cultures here that don't see anything wrong with the business hours, I am not denying that. But where are they coming from usually? In my experience they come for less wealthy nations where it really is too expensive to open your own store or stay open for long hours.

Standard Expat-Swiss-Fan reply:

"Well don't you think the sandwich-maker deserves to have lunch too??? If you were half as organised as the amazing Swiss here you would realise it is quite easy to plan 4 months ahead to order your sandwiches and collect them in advance and this reduced convenience is the price you pay to live in the most amazing wonderful faultless place in the whole wide universe ever i'm so sick of you newbie brits coming on here and don't even know how to use the search function don't try to integrate and aren't even fluent in swiss german complaining all the time that switzerland isn't the same as back home well guess what it isn't and if you hate it so much why don't you go back to where you came from??? "

Anyway, sandwiches are snacks, not lunch or dinner!

Really, I have NEVER seen someone in CH eating a sandwich as a meal!

(except for those from a few other countries that I won't bother to name)

Tom

P.S. I don't normally even eat lunch, though I do go home for lunch break!

After a quite lengthy, highly scientific debate at the pub, in front of a drink, prof.Taratonga and I reached an agreement: if people spent more time socializing, and less time complaining, half of their issues would be solved. So people, more beer time and less rant time!

Voilà -- OP's solution is that he should head to the bar at noon rather than the bakery/sandwich shop!

I bet the brothels are closed over lunch

One of the things that I am reminded of by the OP's rant is how much of lunch time is consumed by the obtaining of said lunch.

I mean, back in the day, I only got 30min for lunch and most of the allotted time was spent getting someplace to purchase it and getting back, not actually eating and relaxing and having an actual break.

So, maybe instead of thinking of the opening times as a means to stifle you, look at the silver lining in that if you plan ahead (buy lunch on the way to work or bring something from home), you'll actually have more opportunity for a relaxing break in the middle of your work day.

break? break? lunch time allowances is just to allow you to nourish yourself sufficiently to perform efficiently in the afternoon. once the IV nutrition drip is perfected, we should be able to get an extra 30 minutes of productivity...

Lunchtime is the best time for sex.

Actually, I'm not just referring to your post but to all those people who claim that a sandwich doesn't consitute lunch. Here in the German speaking part of the country, where people have to work for a living, lunch for many people is what other places refer to as a snack. A lot of food is grabbed and consumed on the go. Thus, the plethora of sandwich, kebab places scattered all over town. It is so prevalent, that I would consider it part of the culture here. Food culture, well, if we can even call it this way is usually not even a hot meal. Migros caught wind of that earlier and set up snackbars in places with high frequency with customers ranging from grannies, to apprentices to business people.
Another misconception I've noticed on this thread is, the notion that people in Switzerland enjoy working less etc. This is simply not true. Chronic stress caused by the huge workload and general pressure from work is a serious issue and statisitcs show that over 50% of the Swiss working force is chronically stressed. Which brings me to the point, that because a great many people seem to be on the go and don't really have time for lunch a lot of "lazy" business decided to open doors. By lazy business I mean, that there is no real thought put into the whole model but rather copy what everybody else is/was doing with these snack joints/kebab places; with the almost inexistant hurdle to open up a snackbar, a lot of unskilled/unsuitable/unqualified people get the opportunity to set up shop and provide customers with inferior goods and services. Now, in the case of the OPs bakery, I don't exactly know the situtation of said bakery...but in general, I don't support the notion of having closed ovre lunch time but applaud the fact that he doesn't have to.

Olygirl, where did that come from....
I laughed too hard at work.

You probably haven't been in a teacher's lounge, much, lately...
Coop salmon sandwiches, all the way, by the way. I need a lot of omegas 3 for special ed work.

Anyways. I don't mean to rain on some crabby folk's parade, and am late here to the debate, but please, if you can, tone down the personal attacks. They do not make your opinions more valid.

Give me a date and place - I promise to be quiet

And for once, we can say to you what you always say to us....

Ticino is different

Come north of the Gottardo some time, there's enough sandwiches for everyone!

The last time I was in Europe before I moved over, a friend got quite upset with me because I wouldn't spend the WHOLE weekend and leave on a Monday morning. I said, "Oh no. I'm not spending a boring Sunday in France with everything closed! I'd rather go home!"

One of the things I actually like here is that things are shut on Sundays. I also find it annoying if I do want to go and buy something, but on the whole I like that it is a true day to relax and the whole country doesn't seem to feel like it has to be rushing around EVERY day of the week.

Just because you want some things to change doesn't mean that you hate the place you live and it certainly doesn't mean you think your previous country was utopia. I wouldn't be here if my previous country was utopia because I made the choice to come here. I love it here, but that doesn't mean that everything that happens is perfect. There are things that I find difficult to get used to, and I will probably never get used to them because I know it CAN be done better. Why do people jump to the conclusion that because you want a few things to change that you hate it. Everybody would then hate everything because there is always something that can improve. Does that mean I hate my car because I don't like the placement of the cup holders? No...it means that is something that could be improved...that is all.

In this particular case with the bakery we can state: Improvement is when it's convenient for jerallie.

I lived and worked in Zurich for four years before moving south, don't recall anyone eating sandwiches except as snacks.

And motorcycling, though not both at once!

Tom

P.S. I spent today's lunch buying fertilizer, and going to the DMV in Camorino to get some license plates, so that I can spend tomorrow's 90 minute lunch break motorcycling!