Ultimatums

My 'bloodline' is of pure German descent, that is my great-great grandparents came straight from Germany to North Dakota and lived in a primarily German settled area...so my great grandparents, grandparents and parents have all married other such German descendants... I have broken the 'purity' by marrying a 'mutt' but that is not relevant now...The reason I mention this is because for all of my life I have been around these German folks and many (if not most) of my older relatives are very 'hardcore' Germans...speaking German, cooking/eating German foods and exhibiting many a German trait. I also am friends with other German 'descendants' that are my age and it doesn't take long to notice several traits that we have 'inherited' from our ancestors...such as stubbornness, hard work ethic and our word is our bond.

Our word is our bond, that is the topic of this post because it is even more complex than that... you see for many a proud German we hold a simple credo very dearly, that is if you say it, you mean it, you do it and you never defy it...NEVER defy it. Oh sure, many may think that's how they are, but no, that is not the case for your 'perception' of that phrase and the reality is often different. In society today people will lie openly to your face, while you know it. People will say they will meet you somewhere at 9:00 AM and not be there at 9:00 AM, sure it may be 9:01 AM, but then why didn't you say 9:01 AM? You see it is that definitive. Most 'hardcore' Germans are NEVER late, in fact it is a standard practice to be at least - AT LEAST - 5 minutes early for any and everything. My family reunions say they will begin at 10:00 AM on a Saturday, but we all know that means show up Friday night to make some red-eye (standard German party drink), drink and play cards (usually of the gambling nature - women will play Pinochle) or other parlor games (ie: pool) and essentially be on site until the reunion has concluded sometime Sunday for us that have to work. There is nothing better than running to the liquor store to pick up the kegs and the liquor store not having them ready...I know no German (which kills me in card games because they all cheat by speaking German...but I am catching on) but know that what my older uncles are saying while inside the establishment are anything but flattering towards the employee who does not have our kegs of beer ready, which at a different time would mean they would get beaten on the spot. (Did I mention that Germans like to drink?)

So now comes my point...the ultimatum...again, our word is our bond. There have been businesses I, sometimes alone and sometimes with others, have uttered the words "I will never set foot in this business again." And by saying this means you are required to honor it...if not, then why say it? There is a popular electronics/computer store in my town will never see me set foot inside of it again for an incident that occurred about 2 years ago. With some friends about 4 years ago a liquor establishment wouldn't sell us offsale at 12:55 PM (5 minutes before they legally had to stop - and did I mention Germans like to drink?) and one of my fellow German descendant friends uttered the phrase "We will never set foot in here again." And I have yet to return to that establishment and have even had to tell people that I couldn't go there because I refuse to enter it because of the ultimatum.

So I am opening a new checking account because I didn't like the bank I was at...no, I didn't say I would never do business with them again (I left the door open) but I just didn't like the service and it seemed as if I was getting raped on charges all the time for items other banks are giving away for free...so it made sense to move to a bank that seemed to want my business. So prior to me selecting my bank I just mentioned to my mother that I was looking for a new bank and told her of one that I thought of moving too... she told me that I couldn't move to that bank because in 1974 they were extremely rude to her and would not approve a house loan and she uttered the phrase "I will never do business with you nor will anyone in my family!" So there you go, I had to select another bank because of an incident in 1974...we hold a grudge and I must honor it, if I didn't I would surely be chastised by not only my family, but everyone my mother could tell..."Did you know my son is banking at a bank that I said we would never do business with?" News like that would spread like wild-fire amongst my relatives and would surely be one of the first things said to me at the next reunion... "Hey, how's it going? I hear you are banking at that no-good bank your mother hates? What's with that?"

To tell you the truth, I think holding the ultimatum and the German stubbornness traits is like a badge of honor and that if everyone in today's society would do the same you would see better service from all businesses.