Since I set foot in Germany - and this goes for you, too, Austria - I have lost the ability to open doors properly. In the States, I find this daily activity requires no thinking. I walk into buildings quite easily. But here? Oh, you doors. How you aim to fool me.
When you walk into, let's say, a bank in the States, how do you open the door?
You pull.
This means when leaving the bank, you push. This is the way it is. My brain has been trained to open doors this way. And it's logical to me. Let's say, however, it's the other way around and there's a stampede inside your Chase or TCF or whatever financial institution you use. Before the first stampeder can pull the door open, the other stampeders have already flung him against it, trapping everyone inside. Not pretty. And I don't get it.
The thing that adds to my perplexity is that the doors aren't always opposite from ours. When you walk up to the entrance of a building, it's a guessing game. I can't rely on door consistency. Is it a pusher or a puller? Why do I even have to question this? But really, I have a 50-50 chance with every door, how hard can this be? No matter, they still manage to make a fool of me.
And then there is the unsettling locking issue. It's completely understandable that doors lock from the outside. When you come back, you take out your key and open the door. But here, doors lock from the inside. Now, think about that while picturing the door to the room your in slowly closing. I'm pretty sure that's in some horror movie somewhere and a creepy, little girl in a white dress whispers "The doors lock... from the inside."
If someone is not currently having office hours at work, the door gets locked. If you're visiting them, they have to get their key to let you out. WHAT IF THERE'S A FIRE?! I don't know about you, but my keys are not in a fire-ly accessible kind of place. They are swimming around in a purse pocket and if our office door is locked from the inside, my office mate and I have a better chance of survival by jumping out of our 6th story window before I find my key.
So first I'm the ignoramus who can't open the door. And then I'm the weirdo who doesn't want the door to close. I'm certainly not making good impressions for Americans with all this door tomfoolery.
For being a country full of rules, I would think Germany would have one for Doors pushing out. In the US they are all the same, because of Fire code. First stampeder can be clueless and fall out through the door without trying! I don't get it either .
ReplyDeleteThere was a tragic fire in a movie theater in the US around the turn of the century (1900 or so) where the people all died because the press of the crowds against the door made it impossible to open the door, which pulled inward. That made a US Law enacted that required all public places to have doors that push out. I like this, too. I wonder, has Germany never had fires whereby they need to worry that you can't get out? It does seem dangerous to me, too! Crazy place.
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