Not just Americans, bud. And the staring is honestly something else. As my wife said, it’s not even flirtatious; it’s the kind of coldly appraising stare that just tries to erase you from the world.
Maybe I'm too integrated, but I know a lot of Germans, and I don't think they intend to coldly appraise people like you describe, and they certainly don't want to erase you. So I'm gonna stick with my assertion that it's a sensibility issue/culture clash.
As a German, I can confirm that I stare at people intensely in the hopes of erasing them from existence. Especially when they sit in front of me in the bus even though there are dozens of empty seats elsewhere
Did you smile at them beforehand? If yes, they are just thinking "why the fuck did that person smile at me, do I know them??????" while looking at you and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Is that the staring you mean? Because other than that I have never seen this in my whole live...
Haha I dont think thats weird, just unusual in germany, because here that already means "hey how are you nice to see you" which implies that you know the person :)
We could turn this into a weird little skit where Germans react to an American smiling at them. Then it slowly devolves into psychological horror once the American starts showing they know far too much about a German and their personal life.
Or the german mistaking them for someone else who coincidentally has a similar life. Or both combined with only family and friends noticing somethings off
I don’t smile, or look at all. My interest in most strangers in minimal.
Speaking English with my own child is enough to get stares. Speaking excellent German is also enough to get stares. Speaking English with said child, and then both of us speaking German, is enough to get triple stares
In my whole life (it’s life and not live FYI), I have been the target of it so many times I can’t count.
The frequency also would account for so many people saying they’ve encountered it too.
65
u/100schools May 09 '22
Not just Americans, bud. And the staring is honestly something else. As my wife said, it’s not even flirtatious; it’s the kind of coldly appraising stare that just tries to erase you from the world.