My immediate superior thinks I'm old fashioned. I hope my reply doesn't get me fired.

[DFW]

He remarked, "You’re just a bit of an old dog. New tricks don’t come easily."

He is older than I am (and from Ft: Worth), and speaks no language other than what passes for English in Ft. Worth, so I replied:

"Says the man who thinks that 'Russian, French and German' refers to two kinds of salad dressing and a variety of chocolate cake."

Either he has retained his sense of humor, or I can register for unemployment tomorrow.

[rampartc]

1. you could prove he is wrong

even if he doesn't notice your new boss might.

[DFW]

3. I have worked for the same outfit for 44 years now

Recruited in August, 1975, now station chief for Europe.

Talk about being a little late to learn new tricks!

[Ghost Dog]

5. May I ask, do you import to or export from Germany?

How do you see the balance of trade?

[DFW]

9. Inasmuch as my job can be said to be one or the other.....

Repatriation back to the USA would be the most accurate description of that part of my job, so export if one has to choose, though that could be easily misinterpreted. I am not a buyer of Black Forest ham or Bahlsen cookies, if that is what you are getting at. Part of what I do (though not all) involves combating counterfeit currency and helping catch organized crime gangs. If I spot some bad guys from Romania, and we wait until they show up in New York, ID them, and get them arrested there, is that an export?

As for the balance of trade, I see Merkel as protecting German interests as best she could, while keeping in mind the needs of her neighbors as best as could be done without rocking the EU boat to the point of instability. She agreed to take the lion's share of Syrian refugees not because she loves Syrians, but because she knew it was the only way to avoid violence among her less well-off neighbors. The refugees were coming one way or the other, although few other than Merkel wanted to acknowledge that.

Germany long ago was wise enough to have their major auto exporters manufacture in the USA (Merc in Alabama, BMW in SC). Merkel was one of the few to realize that Fukushima was not just a "glitch," but rather an evil omen of what nuclear power plants could become, and did the solar and wind energy industries a huge (and nationally useful) favor by pulling out of nuclear power. Germany has no oil to speak of, so this was another gutsy move. Germany is still extremely apprehensive about "incident-prone" nuclear power plants just across the border in France and Belgium.

Germany also has the good fortune to have a workforce who is trained from day one to have a strong work ethic that makes them worth the price they cost their employers. Manufacturing that works here would not fly in neighboring countries, let alone the newer EU members. Biggest e.g.: Nokia, with a factory in Bochum, thought they would pull a cute trick, and closed their Bochum factory, put 4000 Germans out of work, and re-opened the factory in Romania, where labor costs less than half what it costs here. But they got what they paid for, and they had to contend with the fact that only about a third of the phones coming out of their Romanian factory worked. Talk about penny-wise and euro-foolish. But instead of coming back to Germany, Nokia moved this facility out of the EU altogether, and relocated it to China. A cynical move, but they were forced to admit that they couldn't buy German labor at Romanian prices.

There is some serious resentment in the rest of the EU about the German trade surplus, and considerable jealousy about their budget surplus. Calls for Germany to "step up" and consume more always fall on deaf ears, and rightly so. This country is awash in consumer goods as it is, and it is not a socialist economy, so it is not up to the government to suddenly buy up Peugots or Volvos for no reason. I was just in Portugal over the weekend, and the new highways and city restorations were mostly paid with German taxpayer money funneled into the EU. They are not stingy, just pragmatic. They are scared stiff of runaway inflation and they are dedicated pacifists. Two world wars lost can do that to a people. I don't blame them for charting a different course after we gave them the chance.

[3Hotdogs]

13. Thanks for this.

[Ghost Dog]

18. Yes, thanks for that.

I think the recommendation would be that Germany, rather than consuming more internally, should invest more in targetted EU-wide r&d and infrastructure investment projects perhaps especially in the fields of health and education and urban systems and clean transport.

Many could probably do with some extra 'federal' help cleaning up some of all the corruption that's rampant, too...

[DFW]

19. You're right that many EU countries could use a little extra help

But national sensitivities on both ends of the equation need to be considered.

On the receiving end, Germans are tired of throwing money down holes of corruption (e.g. Romania, Greece, Bulgaria), and then being called economic Nazis when they want a say in how the money they contribute is spent ("the Germans are doing with euros what they couldn't accomplish with tanks" ). Restoring architectural gems in Portugal is one thing. Padding the already bloated pensions of corrupt officials in Belgium or Slovakia is quite another. On the giving end, Germany risks a taxpayer revolt if the waste/corruption in the receiver countries gets out of hand. So a delicate balance is necessary, something only Merkel has managed in recent history.

[GoneOffShore]

21. Thanks for the rundown. When we were having ceiling fans installed in our French

apartment last year, the electrician specified CasaFan from Germany. 'They are the best and guaranteed for life'. And he's French.
We just had the bathroom redone and our plumber steered us to Hans Grohe. 'German fixtures are the best'. Another French guy.
The city of Aix en Provence is doing a heat distribution system and the pipes they are putting in? 'German Pipe'.

There are still a lot of French cars on the road, but Audi's, BMW's, VW's, and Mercedes are very popular.

I said to a French friend on Armistice Day - Looks the Germans actually won the war. She agreed.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I think that was rather clever,

But then I don't know the guy.

[DFW]

4. He does complain about my email habits

I complain that he has no idea what I'm talking about unless I translate everything, since I DO speak Russian, French and German (and six other languages).

We do talk past each other on occasion.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. Well, you know that most Americans don't speak a second language

Unlike those in other countries. We expect everyone to speak English, and chances are that they do. Just the other night I was reminded of that when I walked my friend to her car and we ran across an older man walking a couple of very friendly dogs - so we stopped to make a fuss over the pups and it turned out that he had very little English, he was Canadian and mostly spoke French. That was the language I studied in school and I made an effort, but it's been so long that I realized how much I had lost.

So you really can't expect your boss to understand any other languages if he just never learned them. Though if he's confronted with other languages, he should be grateful that he has you as a resource to translate for him!

[DFW]

12. A good Canadian friend of mine was once Canada's ambassador to the USA

He is from Québec, and the French he speaks is so different from what they speak in France (and he'll be the first to tell you!), that even Parisians sometimes ask what in the world a Canadian is saying!

I expect my boss, if he is going to lord over an operation with important operations overseas, to know how to communicate with people here on occasion! OK, I don't expect him to speak Catalan, Swedish or Dutch, but a little German, French or Russian shouldn't be out of the question! I have a day job. I'm not a tour guide!

[Stuart G]

16. Well..?? It seems that your boss is not the brightest bulb..very low watts. Maybe 4 or 5 watts.

..That is pretty dim as we all know.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

27. When I was working on very early cell phones at the late (amd lamented) Bell Telephone Labs

We got a proposed standards document from the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT, from the French name, Comité Consultatif International Téléphonique et Télégraphique) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Since the two official languages of the CCITT were English and French, we got copies of both the English and French versions. As I was the only person in my department who could read French, I took the French version. The man I shared an office with and I were going through the document, seeing how it would affect us. Matt read out one part that he didn't understand, and I replied, "That's not what the French says". I then took both versions to my boss, who said that I should send an e-mail to the CCITT about it. At essentially the same time, someone in Belgian Siemens saw the same thing, and our two e-mails got to Geneva within an hour of each other.

They decided that the French version was the proper one, and revised the English version to match.

[DAngelo136]

7. I'm "Old fashioned", too.

In a perfect world, where labor had rights, you wouldn't have to be afraid of losing your job for responding to a rude remark.

[DFW]

15. Keep in mind, I've been doing this for 44 years

He has been my immediate superior since 1983, and there is no one above him. I'm not exactly what you could call "rank and file" at this point. He does make rude remarks from time to time. I have enough seniority that I can zap back without really worrying about being put on the street tomorrow.

[Stuart G]

17. ...Immediate superior since 83?..That is 35 years?? I have revised my superb review..

He is not a 3 or 4 watt...Obviously he is a one watt bulb. Very, very dim. and..I have never seen a one watt bulb before, but he is it...

[still_one]

8. I don't think that would be grounds for dismisal, though I think there would have been a lot better

ways to demonstrate he is full of hogwash

[DFW]

10. Keep in mind two things

He is from Fort Worth, Texas, and is always right (just ask him, he'll tell you!)

Plus, I have had my job (higher rank now LOL!) for 44 years, and speak French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Dutch, German, Swedish and Russian. He couldn't replace me if he tried, and he knows it.

[Ohiogal]

11. I'm just gonna be blunt here.

He sounds like an idiot.

[DFW]

14. Well, yeah, but he's from Fort Worth, Texas

EVERYBODY there sounds like an idiot, even if they won the Nobel Prize last year

[FakeNoose]

20. The situation you're in, you won't get a promotion until your boss leaves

It sounds like he's not going anywhere until he finally retires. (?) By that time maybe you'll get moved up to his position, or maybe you'll retire too.

My sister had a boss like that long ago, and she finally just quit the job because her boss was too young to retire. It was the Peter Principle in action.

We older boomers have fewer options these days. I liked my job and my boss, but I was happy to retire 2 years ago.

[DFW]

24. I don't WANT his job

I don't want to be in the position to occasionally have to do/say hard things to people under me. We both do this job because we have fun doing it most of the time. He's 69 and I'm 67. I'm too old to take a desk job, too young to retire. Who else is going to pay me to take weekends in Portugal, Switzerland or Spain, and go whever I say I'm needed for the rest of the year? I've already got dying of heart problems or cancer to worry about. I refuse to add boredom to the list.

[FakeNoose]

29. I hear you, it sounds like a great job

More power to you! Your boss relies on you more than you realize, and he won't fire you over stupid shit.

BTW I love reading your stories about your awesome trips around Europe. Your latest one about Portugal sounds so great.

[DFW]

31. The last day was fabulous, but I wish I had stayed another day

It was just too short for me.

[Honeycombe8]

22. One joke deserves another. Fair enough. It's just a joke.

My opinion is that he has a bit of a sense of humor, but I don't know him. You do.

I made the mistake of thinking my father was joking once, and I responded accordingly. I lived to regret it. But I lived.

[erronis]

23. I also know that situation with a FIL but also survived.

Over the years I've honed a fine line of irony and sarcasm (at least I think it's fine) and can get away with saying something that might be interpreted as a compliment but is usually back-handed. It's all in the eyes/ears of the beholder.

[getagrip_already]

25. Maybe he has a point?

Not being mean, but I work with a LOT of people who simply won't learn anything new. They cling to how they "always" did things.

Sometimes it's technology, sometimes collaboration, and sometimes, there are just better ways to get things done.

They always resist.

If that's you, and you resist for no good reason other than you don't want to change, you may not be long for this economy.

Again, just poking the bear. Introspection is good. I'm 60, so no spring chicken, but I'm always struggling to keep up.

ну так вот.

[DFW]

33. He always thinks he has a point.

I don't want his position, and he sure as hell doesn't want mine. His idea of a crap job is having to be in a different country every day of the week, and that learning foreign languages is a useless academic exercise. My idea of a crap job is spending every day of the week in the same country and speaking the same language day in and day out. I'm 67, but I'm nowhere near interested in retirement yet. I can think of a lot better things to die of than boredom. Ask me again in 15 years.

Правильно.

[dem4decades]

26. He sounds like an asshole. Good luck.

[Polly Hennessey]

28. Your superior or your supervisor?

[DFW]

32. Superior. I don't have a supervisor

I'm station chief for Europe for my outfit. One rung below the top, which is exactly where I intend to stay. I supervise, to a mild extent, but I give the people under me a wide latitude. What we do is rarely an exact science. In reality, I'm given a wide latitude, too. It's just that sometimes, the top brass seems to find themselves with a free half hour, and decide to harass me for lack of anything else to do.

[samnsara]

30. good answer!