Yelläks /ˈyæl•eks/

The Germans are world champions to see the negative points of an issue first and to complain about it. If a German tells you about how he/she enjoyed his/her vacation, many times you can hear something like: “Oh, it was very nice and the landscape very beautiful, but <placeholder>”

The <placeholder> can be replaced by anything such as “the weather was to rainy, wet, cold, hot, humid, sunny etc” or “the food was too bad, less, cold, hot, spicy, etc”. Usually the negative aspects are mentioned together with an overall overview in the very first sentence and gives the audience an impression that the vacation was just a waste of time. If the vacation was so bad, why did not the German come back or change the hotel? Instead he/she stayed there to continue the complains? Does complaining make so much fun or is it just an exaggeration?

Another situation occurred often when I went to lectures by train. The train started somewhere 400km away and my place was near the other terminal. So many times the speakers at the platform announced something like: “Ladies and Gentlemen! The train from Siegen to Aachen has a delay of 5 minutes. Any inconvenience is regretted.” 5 minutes means, that at maximum the train will be late by 5 minutes. Usually it is less than that. Anyway how much worth is a exact arrival prediction, if the train already traveled such a long distance? Many prospective passengers complained heavily and said something like: “Yesterday it was 5 minutes, day before yesterday also and now it is again. Who do they think they are? Unbelievable!” I mean, if the train is always late, why not coming to the train station a little bit later? So did I and it worked for a few months till the management decided that 5 minutes are too much and suddenly the train came on time so that I missed it regularly.

Also Indians complain (which nationality does not?). But it is interesting to see, how they do it. Lately many times the citizens of Bangalore complain about the pollution and traffic situation in the city. So it is said: “The traffic in Bangalore is worst <placeholder>.”

Now, what is inserted into the <placeholder>? Most of the time it is filled with “and the government does not do anything about it! They promised and nothing happens.” The major difference between German and Indian complains is that the Germans will definitely complain about something that is not under their control such as the weather or the arrival time of a train. The Indians however complain more about what is caused by others and they love to blame the government for that. If the traffic situation is worst, why is it the fault of the government? Does it force the protester to buy a car, to violate traffic rules or to avoid public transportation system whenever possible? Many commuters take the car for a distance of around 3 to 6km to work. Is this distance not manageable by cycle? So instead of thinking, how the situation can be improved, many Indians sitting in the car complain about the government. The current traffic jam is certainly not caused by them, but by all others. And the government should widen and improve the roads so that even more cars fit onto them. A t-shirt for cyclists would be nice saying on the back: “I am improving the traffic situation and do exercise at the same time. Do you sit comfortably?” (Actually nice idea, maybe the same meaning with a pointy sentence would be a hit. I will let you know…)

Another example are the daily power cuts. So far I did not understand, why someone in a room whose temperature is controlled by AC complains about power cuts and blames the government. Especially in winter where opening the windows could help a lot. Oh, I forgot, sometimes that is not possible due to the pollution caused by the traffic.

Definitely these few examples cannot cover all possible options about the different complaining styles of the Germans and Indians and many times it might not be the case that the government is blamed or the German literally hate his/her vacation. I did not want to give the impression that both nationalities always complain about each and everything either. It was just an interesting point for me to see and I experienced it quite often.