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Originally Posted by secretariat
Congratulations, very nice. I have an issue with the workers drinking beer while assembling a BMW. But maybe that's just me.
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When I first saw that beer was available in the assembly plant I was shocked, but then I realized it’s just the culture. Being from America, I know it would never work here. There are too many people here who would abuse it. But the German culture is one that drinks beer more than water (maybe an exaggeration) and from what I was told on the tour, it’s not something that is abused. I asked about the work morale and it seemed to me the employees in Dingolfing do take a lot of pride in their work. BMW buses people to work there so that they don’t need to deal with commuting on their own and also to preserve the relationship with the residents of the country side. The workers are paid well and are given opportunities to move up – given this, I feel as if it’s just not in the best interest of the workers to get drunk at work, and I don’t believe it happens. Most of the workers I saw are young, with futures to worry about.
I liken this to the Autobahn. Since we flew out of Frankfurt, I drove from Munich and the experience was exhilarating. The organization of the stretches with no speed limits was pristine. Stay on the right unless passing, then right back over to the right. NOONE camps out on the left like they do in the US. You would think that with no speed limits it would be a mess, but it’s not. You would get the occasional car blow by you on the left (even as you cruise at 110 MPH), but it wasn’t often. Rules are meant to be broken I guess, but without them it’s not lawless like you may expect.
There’s a saying not to buy a BMW built on a Friday, but I walked through the plant at 730 PM on Friday night and it was quiet as a church.