VEO@vrexec
I'm going to say something that will befuddle some Europeans, anger others, and maybe inspire a few.
Today I experienced one of the starkest differences between Dutch and American culture. And though it's Dutch, I think it's broadly European. Let me explain.
I had an important conference call and took it while biking to a local package pickup point. You walk in, show your code and ID, they hand you your package. Basic. Not a big deal.
I wasn't being loud or obnoxious… but yes, I was on the phone. As I was leaving with my package in hand, the other clerk… not the one helping me, the one across the room who wasn't serving anyone… chimed in loudly..
“Next time, finish your call before you come in here to get your package."
As an American, I was stunned. As someone who thrives on verbal confrontation, I had all sorts of comebacks flowing through my head. But I was on a call, so I just gave a “WTF?” look and kept walking.
Some of you will have no reaction to this. Some will think… sure, you were being rude, and that person had every right to say something. And yes… they do have that right. But…
If that happened in the US, the likelihood of that employee being fired on the spot… depending on how the customer reacted or complained… is several orders of magnitude higher than here. In this country, it is nearly impossible to fire an employee. The protections are so vast and far-reaching that workers have no fear, and no reason to check their behavior toward customers.
At no point did it even occur to this person that there could be a consequence to speaking to me in that manner…
"The customer is always right" does not exist in these parts.
It's partly why European waiters carry the stereotype of not really caring about you. They're not working for tips, it's just a job, and firing them is nearly impossible… so where's the incentive to be nice?
Funny enough, many Europeans view American retail workers as friendly to an almost weird degree. Understand the incentives and it all makes sense. Net-net, being a customer in the US is a far better experience.
But there’s an even deeper issue…
America celebrates the individual, and that culture trickles all the way down through business into something like at-will employment. The individual has the right to get up and leave… the owner has the right to fire on the spot. The individual is put on a pedestal. It is our nature. It is our origin story, for better or worse.
The Old World is about what I call deference to the institution. The institution above the individual. It's been this way forever, and in my opinion it will never change… for reasons very similar to Zelinsky's Doctrine of First Effective Settlement. Absent a clean slate, cultures don't change even across centuries.
You might say…. but Europe empowered the individual in this very story… the clerk got to speak his mind to a customer.
Not true. Employees of a company or institution are agents of that institution.
So what EU employment protections actually do is not strengthen the individual. They empower the agents of institutions… giving them even more leverage over the actual individual… the customer. The person walking into an establishment acting on their own agency to receive a service. They don't want a lecture from the institution.
Europeans should appreciate what they have here. It's easy to complain about low wages, but it's a real trade-off… you get to talk shit to a customer, and another Dutch customer might even nod along… we're a pragmatic society, we speak our minds, we're honest with each other.
Who knows which path is the correct one. From a realpolitik, hard power, and innovation perspective… and social mobility… American culture wins every time. And there is a perspective that, regardless of your feelings, your ancient cultural dispositions, or your tolerances… hard power is all that matters in the modern world. Maybe from other perspectives, the EU way wins.
I don't know.
