Urge to be number one » «
I’m sure I’ve heard the Germans being accused of playing ugly, sterile or boring football with all the game play having only one goal in mind: winning. Well isn’t that the purpose of playing a game? It is just a game after all isn’t it? Probably not if your German:
Germans are taking [the world cup] all too seriously.
There’s so much pressure. People have this urge to be the perfect hosts – and that’s so German – this urge to be number one. Anke Engelke Germany’s leading comedienne
news.bbc.co.uk Germany’s bid to be perfect hosts
And she was just talking about the spectators!
From my experience typically sportsmanlike sayings such as “its not whether you win or lose but how you play the gameâ€? and “its not the winning; its the taking part that counts” are the very antithesis of the German attitude. A more fitting saying for the German mentality might be “Second place means first loserâ€?
There is a drive in the German people to be number one and a search for perfectionism in all walks of life that you just can’t ignore. It’s a drive that I’m sure comes from a great fear of being the first loser. I recently discussed this with a German friend who used a fitting adjective to describe it: Verbissen – which means dogged. (Biss = bite)
It’s the same doggedness with which a Pit-bull will hold onto the ball until its punctured and you’ve got bored of playing the “game� and gone home. The same dogged determination that will see a German employee work late into the night whilst his English contemporary is already enjoying the Nth round in the local. First loser fear can be a powerful thing! I’ve noticed it first hand at work and at play.
Being good at being number one is surely why the Germans , speak more languages fluently, build [arguably] the best cars in the world , have a transport system you can set your watch by, win lots of medals at the Olympics and have won the World Cup three times etc etc etc. The drive for perfectionism is surely what helps make Germany such a great place to live. Something to to be very proud of!
But if winning and being number one are your only objectives things quickly get very tiresome. By doggedly trying to win all the you can end up losing (all?!) the fun and joie de vivre. Life is one big game and playing games is supposed to be fun – like watching five times world cup winners Brazil!
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