Something that continues to baffle and frustrate me since i've move to Switzerland is the general lack of ability to improvise or think outside the box in situations.

I seriously have a problem with this. It seems as if there is a set system for everything, but if ever the occasion comes up when one has to deal with anything out of the ordinary, it seems as if people here have NO IDEA what to do, and therefore, flat out give you a NO answer.

Even something so simple like today in a shop (Zara) and i wanted to try on some clothes. They only allowed 6 items to be taken into the change room at a time (like most places do). I however had 8 items, so i asked the staff in the shop if they could just put the 2 extra items aside on a rack or outside my change cabin. You should have seen the look on the staff's faces. There were 4 of them standing there looking at each other, not knowing WHAT TO DO. They're faces read something like "This isn't in the rules, and we have no rule for this, so we can't possibly do this." It was as if something had come up that wasn't in the computer program, so they all had a system malfunction. After a 5 minute discussion (of what seemed like a staff meeting) and holding up the line waiting, they came to the conclusion that they would have to put the 2 extra items back and i would have to go back out once i'd finished trying on the 6 items, and get the other two i wanted to try on, back of the racks were they belonged, and rejoin the changing room line.

I almost pulled all my hair out with frustration.

Same thing seems to happen a lot when driving. If the car in front of another car stops slightly to the side of the road, instead of simply going around it if there is room... all the cars just stop, causing mass traffic... all because one idiot can't take the decision to just drive around the stopped car.

I just don't get it... It's driving me NUTS.

That is exactly the plan. Driving you (and all the other foreigners) NUTS. See, you get it.

If the plan is to drive every foreigner nuts, then i may as well check myself into an institution ASAP before I smack someone in the face. And having said that, I'm not at all an aggressive person. I'm a wife and mother, and am Australian, so am very easy going.... but seriously people "COME ON."

That would be the Burghölzli

Nice threads to look back to:

You know you're from ZURICH when...

You know you've been living in Switzerland too long when...

What roads are you driving on I have lost count of the number of times I have followed cars around the pavement or worse to get around a stopped car.

The salesstaff were probably more confused trying to work out why someone could possibly even need to try 8 items - clearly you have too much money if you can afford 8 pieces of clothing in Zara!!!

Oh I DO so agree with you! It drives me nuts too. I have experienced it also in Munich. They stop to think, and if you look deep into their ears you can see the cog wheels moving!

Sometimes I am driving along a country road at 80 Km/H, and not in a particular hurry, when someone drives up really close behind me. I wait for a straight stretch of road, signal right and slow down from 80 kph. Do you think the idiot will overtake me? Not until I have nearly stopped! Why? Because he has probably never met a car that slows down for no obvious reason.

I have asked driving instructors "What is the official speed limit when leaving the autobahn and entering a rest area, or even a service area?" The reply has always been "There are signs there" well usually there are no signs there. A car leaves the autobahn at a speed of up to 120 kph, and 100 meters later there are children taking dogs for walks etc. and as yet I have no idea what the legal situation is. If I kill someone in a "resting place" or a lay-by, would they be partly to blame if they walked across the entrance road without looking?

"Thinking outside the box" is one of those double-edged soundbites.

If you kill someone because of your speed, it's what the UK Highway Code calls "driving without due care and attention".

The Zara staff are told by their superiors to enforce the rules strictly with no exceptions. Why? Because retailers, even Zara, live on tiny overall percentage margins, and the staff costs of putting clothes back on the rack is significant. Next time you go retail shopping, watch and see what proportion of their time the staff spend on cashing things in at the till (good for revenue) and straightening up the shop (bad for costs). The poor benighted souls were possibly trying to find a way to accommodate the awkward customer without getting fired, and decided they couldn't safely bend the rules.

The reason drivers sit behind you at 80kmh is that it is such a shock to find someone going that slow.

I find that unless you are 5-10kms above 80kmh they blow past you and the moment you indicate to turn off then they definetly go around you if they havent already as you are going too slow at 80kms.

This may be the place to post my favorite "Welcome to Zurich" story because it directly illustrates the "thinking out of the box" phenomenon.

When I first came to Zurich, many moon ago (it was 2004 or 2005), I was on the 13 tram but was able to get off the tram and witness the following greatness.

A swan hopped out of the Limmat and decided to park himself comfortably on one of the tram tracks in front of the Landesmuseum and sit down. Tram and car traffic obviously completely stopped. Horrible drama around the HB. Nobody knew what to do. There were literally ambulances and policemen and animal specialists and who knows what just standing around in a circle and staring at this swan, who was having a nice sit on the tram track. Discussions about the best way to handle the situation went on for a good hour or more until one of the cops got the bright idea, "Hey, what if I pick up this swan and put him back in the Limmat?" Endless wonders.

I like to think of it as the Swiss "examine their options."

Have you ever tried to pick up a swan? Having worked in animal rescue as a volunteer I can tell you it is not easy- they are big and heavy and pretty violent and strong when threatened. You need a proper grasper for the neck and at least 3 people to do it safely. Honest- in CH or in UK or anywhere else

That image made me smile Odile, thanks.

A small example of having trouble exploring outside the box, happens almost every week in the children's class I teach. Inevitably, we don't have enough erasers for each student. When we are working on something, and they make an error, I tell them, "it's okay, just cross it out and write it beside." They never do this. They will scour the room for erasers. They need that eraser.

I don't get it (and I LOVE structure), but I'm making sure we have enough erasers now.

if you excuse me using this as an example of swiss thinking and 'the proper way is the only way' mentality (also happens to be over-engineered yet considered appropriately so, which is another typical trait).

some out of the box options:

- police have guns/pepper spray: shoot it.
- less violent: container and water from nearby fountain. or some rocks
- loud noise to startle and encourage it to move
- throw a cardboard box over it
- use a net
- fashion a net out of nearby materials
- get a long stick and prod it
- keep driving and see if it moves away

a common attitude is to do things the 'traditional way' or the 'proper/right way' without giving thought to what might be an expedient way or practical way.

i've seen the chinese suffer from a different but similar problem: "i just do what i am told and can't take any risks/initiative" phenomenon.

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Definitely feel your pain on the traffic issue, have seen that happen tens of times! It drives me crazy too. I keep wondering if people here are just not in a hurry.. Patience. Patience is the solution, I suppose.

I saw this immigrant the other day with a steering wheel attached to his crotch, I stopped him and asked him about the steering wheel, he said 'It's driving me nuts...'

I can understand that, but why did it take so long?

It was past s'noonie and nobody had any bread left.

What exactly drives you nuts ? You have been "Switzerlanded". Here in Switzerland, you have laws, rules and regulations for almost everything. These laws and rules and regulations have to be adhered to, whatever happens. If you DISagree, launch an initiative to have an additonal law, or at least appeal to those in charge to issue a new regulation

In england there are laws and regulations to stop you thinking outside the box and if you do then the state will prosecute you.

Classic proof why does the country shut down whenever it snows? Many years ago this didn't stop them but modern day dictates thats all schools must shut because a child might slip over and the school gets sued. My kids here in Switzerland think this is so funny and also shows those places who clearly think inside the box.

Switzerland is not as bad as some people suggest the problem is all the people who expect it to be the same as where they come from and who are not willing to think outside theri own box and work with the systems to their advantage not against them as so many like to. There might actually be a valid reason why 8 items are not allowed in the change rooms

I think you hit the nail on the head, patience. I had a good chuckle reading this thread, and I have had many situations where I can relate but I find Swiss people in general are more patient (not all of course). I think it's quite nice after a while and especially when you learn to be more patient yourself. People realize that being pushy, saving a few seconds, and making a rush decision aren't always worth it.

is it just me, or are you really not so different from them?