German Tourist Visits LA (Los Angeles, Long Beach: real estate, rental, fingerprints)

[nograviti]

Sadly very true in many respects.. Had me on the floor with laughter..

[phenomenon]

When most people go on vacation they stay in a nice hotel, sample the local restaurants, let their hair down and have fun. German tourists, however, are extreme cheapskates in my experience. They will stay in a cheap budget motel, buy food from the local discount grocery store to prepare dinner at said motel, and generally engage in extreme penny-pinching. This blogger was too cheap to even pay for a taxi, instead opting for the metro. He then has the gall to complain that the other passengers are poor. Public transport is fine but if I'm on vacation and only have a few days to spend in Los Angeles, time is precious and I can't afford to waste two hours on a bus when a cab could complete the journey in 30mins. Tourism is supposed to be a money-maker. Not when Germans are involved.

[djmanu]

Lol very true but European tend to have less money and are very cheap on vacation.
It was a culture shock for me when I moved here from Europe, in Europe I would never have though to take a cab ...
And yes they don't have the diversity you have in the US, that's the first thing they notice when landing here and most are afraid of it because for them non-white=guetto.

[RudyOD]

Originally Posted by phenomenon

When most people go on vacation they stay in a nice hotel, sample the local restaurants, let their hair down and have fun. German tourists, however, are extreme cheapskates in my experience. They will stay in a cheap budget motel, buy food from the local discount grocery store to prepare dinner at said motel, and generally engage in extreme penny-pinching. This blogger was too cheap to even pay for a taxi, instead opting for the metro. He then has the gall to complain that the other passengers are poor. Public transport is fine but if I'm on vacation and only have a few days to spend in Los Angeles, time is precious and I can't afford to waste two hours on a bus when a cab could complete the journey in 30mins. Tourism is supposed to be a money-maker. Not when Germans are involved.

Aw, I have a lot in common with these Germans. Well, my behavior has more to do with me being poor than being a cheap though.

[jm1982]

I thought it was pretty funny to see this perspective of L.A from someone that doesn't live in the U.S

I could relate to the story of taking the blue line , as I experienced some of the same drama as well.

It seemed like visitor noticed a lot of the more negative things about L.A..but also had an interesting fascination with it too.

I think that many living in L.A would also be shocked to explore these areas as well.

How many people from the Westside for example have been through Compton ,Watts ,etc? ..probably not many.

I think these perspectives are reallly interesting..It would be cool to have a book of these types of stories.

Maybe something like "L.A: from outside looking in"

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by phenomenon

When most people go on vacation they stay in a nice hotel, sample the local restaurants, let their hair down and have fun. German tourists, however, are extreme cheapskates in my experience. They will stay in a cheap budget motel, buy food from the local discount grocery store to prepare dinner at said motel, and generally engage in extreme penny-pinching.

You clearly do not understand that Germany was and is (albeit less so than before) financially successfull precisely because Germans do not believe in charging things and paying for them later. Germany is comprised of a nation of savers, just like most East Asians. As a nation, Germany experienced two world wars on its territories. It knows great hardship. It knows that wealth one day can be replaced by famine on the next day;It was completely destroyed after WWII. While it is true that the United States assisted Germany tremendously with the Marshall plan, if the Germans had not been very industrious and placed immense emphasis on saving money, the nation would not have prospered as it has. And now those same German savers are called upon again over and over again to bail out spendthrift nations (PIGS) in the EU.

Americans could learn a thing or two from these "dumb" thrifty Germans.

Germans do not feed the machines in Vegas. Germans watch their money closely and brown bag as many meals as possible. So what? They take long vacations nonetheless. Are we Americans saving enough money, saving the maximum allowed in your IRA for example, etc.? If we are not, then perhaps we need to ask ourselves if we are living beyond our means. Enjoying lavish vacations yet still having to pay a car payment or a large mortgage, is not the German way. Germans like to live debt free or close to it.

Originally Posted by phenomenon

This blogger was too cheap to even pay for a taxi, instead opting for the metro. He then has the gall to complain that the other passengers are poor. Public transport is fine but if I'm on vacation and only have a few days to spend in Los Angeles, time is precious and I can't afford to waste two hours on a bus when a cab could complete the journey in 30mins. Tourism is supposed to be a money-maker. Not when Germans are involved.

Germans tend to take longer vacations and are not in a hurry. And what is wrong with taking mass transit?

[jm1982]

Some good points for sure.

Many will look down on people as 'cheap' ...but how much of what people 'have' is borrowed ? From the house to the car,etc?

Also if you have more vacation time you can actually end up spending less per day ..especially on housing than if you have less time.

Think of a hotel versus a sublet for example.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by phenomenon

When most people go on vacation they stay in a nice hotel, sample the local restaurants, let their hair down and have fun. German tourists, however, are extreme cheapskates in my experience. They will stay in a cheap budget motel, buy food from the local discount grocery store to prepare dinner at said motel, and generally engage in extreme penny-pinching. This blogger was too cheap to even pay for a taxi, instead opting for the metro. He then has the gall to complain that the other passengers are poor. Public transport is fine but if I'm on vacation and only have a few days to spend in Los Angeles, time is precious and I can't afford to waste two hours on a bus when a cab could complete the journey in 30mins. Tourism is supposed to be a money-maker. Not when Germans are involved.

I thought it seemed more like observing than complaining. Sure it was pretty racially-fueled, but that is something some people will see first in a situation. There were gross over-generalizations but I didn't find it to be blatantly offensive or discriminatory. Slightly offensive, yes.

[nograviti]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

You clearly do not understand that Germany was and is (albeit less so than before) financially successfull precisely because Germans do not believe in charging things and paying for them later. Germany is comprised of a nation of savers, just like most East Asians. As a nation, Germany experienced two world wars on its territories. It knows great hardship. It knows that wealth one day can be replaced by famine on the next day;It was completely destroyed after WWII. While it is true that the United States assisted Germany tremendously with the Marshall plan, if the Germans had not been very industrious and placed immense emphasis on saving money, the nation would not have prospered as it has. And now those same German savers are called upon again over and over again to bail out spendthrift nations (PIGS) in the EU.

Americans could learn a thing or two from these "dumb" thrifty Germans.

Germans do not feed the machines in Vegas. Germans watch their money closely and brown bag as many meals as possible. So what? They take long vacations nonetheless. Are we Americans saving enough money, saving the maximum allowed in your IRA for example, etc.? If we are not, then perhaps we need to ask ourselves if we are living beyond our means. Enjoying lavish vacations yet still having to pay a car payment or a large mortgage, is not the German way. Germans like to live debt free or close to it.



Germans tend to take longer vacations and are not in a hurry. And what is wrong with taking mass transit?

Yup I agree on all points. The sad truth is that America used to have those values. Henry Ford for example hated credit and only offered it a full 10 years after GM setup hire purchase plans for their cars.

The same applied to JC Penny, which used to an anti credit maxim, it now makes most of its money from credit cards etc..

[phenomenon]

Just catching up on some of the replies now.

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

You clearly do not understand that Germany was and is (albeit less so than before) financially successfull precisely because ...Germans like to live debt free or close to it.

I clipped your comment for the sake of brevity. You make some fair points and you're correct that Germany's successful economy is down to their thriftiness, efficiency and strong work ethic. However, are they the type of people you'd like to party with? The stereotype of the boring German with no sense of humour exists for a reason. The Spanish, Irish or Italians have a better reputation for being sociable and fun in Europe...maybe why their economies are a mess! There is a fine balance between squandering your money and being a miser. Nobody likes a cheapskate.

Germans tend to take longer vacations and are not in a hurry. And what is wrong with taking mass transit?

Public transport is fine. Just know that you're fellow passengers will be the poorest of society, some who may not have washed for days. Be honest - given the choice between your own private car or riding a public bus, which would you take? As I already mentioned, time is limited when on vacation so I personally wouldn't want to spend unnecessary time waiting at bus stops. If you enjoy riding the bus as some sort of hobby, then good for you.