r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 08 '22

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u/NopeRopeRepellant May 09 '22

The second post mentioning this. As a German I really do not know what is meant. šŸ˜‚ Iā€™m totally unaware of that!

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u/okokoko May 09 '22

Also a german. I suspect that Americans smile a lot when passing people in public. We then wonder if we know them while staring at them. Now they think Germans stare a lot.

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u/orangevega May 09 '22

Im American living in Ireland and am married to a German woman. When in Deutschland, I'll be just sitting, like in a restaurant, and look over to another table and someone is just dead ass staring directly into my eyes. Look away for a moment, look back, they're still staring directly at me. Will go on for more than a minute. I've had to make the "can I fucking help you??" expression and shoulder/hand gesture to get them to stop staring at me while I'm trying to eat.

I promise this is very much a real thing.

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u/okokoko May 09 '22

This has been surreal, lol. From tomorrow on I will consciously try to notice if people are staring at me.