Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Typically Dutch

The Dutch have a reputation for being straightforward, bordering on rude, in their interactions with other people. I had a prime example of this in an encounter yesterday.

My Lenovo wireless keyboard and mouse has been giving trouble over the past month or two. The keyboard and mouse become unresponsive at random intervals – and no, it’s not because the batteries are dead. When this happens, the only thing that will cure it is a reboot of the PC. The fault definitely seems to lie in the Lenovo devices, since plugging in a spare mouse and keyboard will immediately work without the need of a reboot. My spare keyboard has one non-working key, and was the reason why I swapped it for the Lenovo keyboard in the first place.

At any rate, when the Lenovo keyboard and mouse froze again yesterday, I thought enough was enough, and resolved to get a replacement keyboard (I already had a spare mouse). I jumped in the car and sped off to the local computer shop in town. Unfortunately, this being a Saturday, the shop closes at 16:00 – as I saw, with a sinking feeling, on the door as I opened it at 15:59.

“Am I too late to buy something?” I asked. “I’ve just cashed up – what do you want?” came the reply. “I need a new keyboard, because my old one has just died”, I said. “I can’t help, I’ve cashed up”, came the rejoinder. No “Sorry”, no sympathy for my plight, just “I can’t help, I’ve cashed up”. I knew that he wouldn’t help, but could he not have softened the blow with a simple “sorry”? That’s so typically Dutch…

Oh well, his loss – I ordered a new keyboard from CoolBlue, and it will be delivered today (on a Sunday!)…

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8 responses to “Typically Dutch”

  1. alfiecarlisle Avatar
    alfiecarlisle

    Interesting post Geoff – opened my eyes certainly as on a visit to the Netherlands last year I went back to UK praising the kindness and politeness of all whom I came into contact with! Perhaps the long weekend I was in Amsterdam for wasn’t long enough for a truly fair test…

    Reply
    1. Geoff Coupe Avatar
      Geoff Coupe

      I must admit, I think you were extremely lucky. The locals in Amsterdam are getting increasingly fed-up with the numbers of tourists there, and particularly with the behaviour of the hordes of stag and hen parties and visitors to the redlight district. The success of Airbnb has also had a negative impact on some neighbourhoods in the city.

      Reply
      1. alfiecarlisle Avatar
        alfiecarlisle

        Thanks for your reply, definitely an interesting point. I have now ‘subscribed’ to your blog after stumbling across it searching for some WHS alternatives! All the best,

        Reply
        1. Geoff Coupe Avatar
          Geoff Coupe

          Thanks. Good luck with your search for an alternative to WHS. I have moved over to using Windows 10 as a server, my eulogy for WHS is here.

          Reply
        2. Geoff Coupe Avatar
          Geoff Coupe

          Here’s a good article from the Guardian newspaper explaining what Airbnb is doing to popular tourist cities like Amsterdam.

          Reply
  2. Keith Avatar
    Keith

    Geoff very interesting indeed. Made me think of a story about my Great Grandfather surname Van Vliet; he’d have a whistle to call or straighten up his kids

    Reply
  3. Hert Avatar
    Hert

    Haha… but at least he was honest: if he would’ve been really sorry then he could have reopened his register or make a note to book the sale the next morning. Actually I prefer the blunt: no, I won’t help you over a “I’m so sorry for you but I can’t help you” (knowing that he can). That’s what we Dutch call “huichelen” (being a hypocrite).

    At CoolBlue you’re better off. They have a honest “customer first” attitude and if needed they can also deliver the same day.

    Reply
    1. Geoff Coupe Avatar
      Geoff Coupe

      There you go, Hert – that’s the thing, I wouldn’t say that he was being a hypocrite. I quite understand that it’s a hassle to reopen the register, and the idea to book the sale to the following day evidently didn’t occur to either of us. But a simple “sorry” in my eyes is far from hypocritical, just softening the blow and being polite. However, the Dutch are direct, and I still haven’t got used to it after 30 years here…

      Reply

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