Zürcher - meaning people who are originally from Zurich, who are living in Zurich, who grew up in Zurich, whose parents are originally from Zurich... - are often said that they are arrogant, snobs, unfriendly, egoistic,... well, not so nice things. A lot of Swiss people who are not from Zurich itself, say that about their fellow citizen.
Is that true? Are people in Zurich unkind or are the people living in the city in general just busy, stressed out and appear to be unfriendly? I've been living in this city for 2 years and 11 months and I can't really tell... Yes, I do hear many complaints, I see unhappy or rude faces, a lot of people here are impatient, lose their temper easily - but I don't think these are all only Zürcher. Aren't a lot of people in Switzerland in general like that? I don't want to backbite too much about them because I am also Swiss but sometimes I wonder, why there are so many Swiss, who are unhappy...?
I grew up in a much bigger city than Zurich - in Tokyo to be precise - and as you can imagine, people there are insanely busy, they have a lot of pressure at work or school (some even already at pre-schools because their parents want to send them to the best school..), they are always stressed out, aren't paid that well and don't have many vacations.
BUT still, I don't think I've EVER heard any complaints, you don't see angry faces, they try their best to stay polite and friendly no matter how bad their day is. And when you are used to that persistent politeness - especially in stores and shops where you are treated like GOD as a customer - you'd be damaged forever when the cashier at MIGROS or COOP in Switzerland is having a bad day, looks angry and doesn't say 'hello' back to you.
I think, when I first moved back to Switzerland as a teenager with my family, I suffered cultural shock. I was so offended when people on the street or the cashier from the supermarket or the lady from the kiosk were rude or unfriendly - I just couldn't understand their behavior... Of course you get used to it after a while but even now, after so many years, I still can't understand their rudeness and it makes me sad and angry.
What is wrong with them anyway? Having a bad day? Well, everyone does! You hate your job? If it makes you miserable, then quit and find another one!! Switzerland is one of the richest country in the world, we have one of the highest salary, we have a good education system, the unemployment rate is very low, nobody has to die of hunger, if you are poor, you can get social welfare benefits from the state...
Your salary is not high enough? What about our neighbors in Germany? Their income is much worse! And what about Spain and Greece, where the unemployment rate is ranked as the highest in Europe? People in Switzerland should be grateful, be happier and stop complaining too much about little things like about the bad weather or delayed train or tram! Think about our neighbors, they are really in a bad condition and they actually have a reason to complain! I guess we Swiss are just way too spoiled... They should read the book "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. Being thankful is the alpha and omega and it would change their 'unhappy' life completely... (I'm sure you'll hear about that wonderful book in my future blog...)
