My first time being arrested in Germany.

So to make a long story short I was not put in handcuffs and carted away to the local precinct, however the German Police authorities would have been well within their rights to have done this.  I was on a bicycle and late to my one of my Learn German Courses in the ghetto of Germany.  A ghetto in Germany is more or less where all of the foreigners, exiled people, and asylum seekers live, and lots of Turkish people.  Since I like Döner Kebab, and the fact that I might have to eventually seek asylum here in Germany from the US if I keep posting my anti-American comments, and I too am a foreigner (not really) I don't nor did I have any problems in the neighborhood.  Just mind your business, don't stare people down, and don't buy drugs or illegal weapons and for the most part you will be okay.  At least until 20:00 (that is another thing, German time is military time).  Since I was a Policeman it was not that hard converting to a ''new'' way to tell time.  With this being said I would not probably feel comfortable in the above-mentioned neighborhood if I happened to be a female (especially a good looking one).  Scary.

So I am pedaling away and I see a red stoplight semaphore (yes, that is what they are called in Police language).  Except for this one is in the middle of a block and is only there for pedestrians.  I came to a complete stop (even put my feet on the pavement) and waited until everyone had crossed.  Since I was in a hurry I rode through the red light only to pedal another 30 Meters and directly in front of me, the words:  Halt Poliezei (Stop Police) on a little white stick with a red light on top.  A man on a bike in front of me was also being detained.  My German was only 3 weeks old (probably 3 year olds could speak already better) but I could do colors and build basic sentences and say who I was, what I was doing (Ich gehe zur deutschen Schule...I am going to German school), ect.  I was polite and gave them one of my id's.  I didn't have my passport with me.  They asked if I was in the country legally.  I said ''Yes, of course.  I am married''.  In German of course.  ''Ja, selbstverständlich.  Ich bin verheiratet''.  The Police Officer was a hulk.  A classical German cop out of a movie.  Muscles with a short World War II Wehrmacht haircut.  I told him that I was trying to learn German, and that I was a former Police Officer and knew what I had done was stupid and took full responsibility.  The Cop decided to give me a break and told me that I would be getting only 1 point deducted from my Driver's License instead of the normal four, and that I would pay a 68 Euro fee instead of 150 Euro.  I told him I didn't have one.  He said well the one point will wait for you until you do in Flensburg (where the German Driving Public Safety Office) is.  If you get 20 points it is game over and I think you have to re do everything.  I was very thankful.  Germans are sticklers for the rules and generally see everything in black-and-white.  Back to going to jail.  They ran my name with one of the documents I had.  I think it was my workout card from the gym McFit.  Without a real form of ID (Drivers License does not count) as a foreigner you can be brought to jail until they ascertain who you are.  I am glad stayed calm and didn't become an ass-hat.  

What if I told you that you would be moving to a country where if in the event of a fire you may become lost in a smoke-filled stairwell?  If you guessed you would be moving to Germany...well Geewhiz, you guessed correctly.  Germany is a one of the leading countries in the world in exports.  They make everything for everything.  They are probably most famous for machines, machines and tools that fix machines and cars.  Das Auto.  This is a subject for another blog.  But today I would like to focus on what could be perceived as German stinginess when it comes to safety or American wastefulness when it comes to doing everything in the name of safety and in the process burning a lot of electricity.

Germans (at least in Berlin) have a shared stairwell that can go up to 11 or 12 stories in some of the larger pre-reunificatin of Germany.  These tenements that would be too dangerous to enter because of criminality in the US are generally safe buildings here in Berlin (even though one apartment gets broken into every hour in Berlin).  When you consider 3.8 million people are living in Germany the headline on the front of the paper with the rate of break-ins seems rather over-sensationalized.  I lived in one for two years here (now I am a homeowner or rather I rent from the bank.  They are called Plattenbau and they are made of pre-poured/formed concrete walls and look sometimes rather hideous because basically they are a large concrete rectangle (that when not yet renovated can look rather austere and depressing).

So how does this tie in with German cheapskates and American energy-pigs you may be asking?  Well a pig, if he has deserved it or not has become the symbol of wastefulness.  I don't think pigs are all too terribly wasteful.  Germans do not have lights burning in hallways or in this case stairwells 24 hours-a-day in apartments.  In America I believe there is a law that stipulates for fire safety that lights burn 24 hours-a-day no matter what.  In Germany you exit your apartment and with the daylight you don't need to push the button to activate the lights unless it is dark (or you can't see that well and are old).  The light switch is on a timer and stays on for a few minutes and the resets itself and turns off.  This must save millions of Watts of energy a year.  Maybe billions.  Americans in the name of fire safety have taken the approach that lives can be saved somehow with these lights in the hallway always burning.  If there were a real fire I don't think you would be able to see the lights that are there for safety through the heavy billowing smoke.  I find the German solution here much more logical and it helps save the environment and keep the price of rent down.  You may say that you don't directly pay for that light in your hallway, but I say you do.  That cost is taken into account when the Apartment Management and Owners are deciding how much to charge for rent.  In this competition it looks like Germany wins 1-0.  More peculiarities and oddities to follow.