European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 01, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Berlin of continued from Page by badly damaged. It was left thai Way on purpose it is said As a reminder to any would be Hotle kaisers and Fiihr ers of the future. In the East they kept flipping the Coin and it kept coming up faces of madness wearing mustaches. Where the kaisers and hitlers left off the of stains and the spirit of the gulag and Sec ret police flowered plodding toward Paradise. So Many of those who shouted Hammer and sic Kle slogans about saving the world from fascism arc these Days being forced to save the world from themselves. Democracy said Winston Churchill is the worst form of government except for All the others. Easl berliners. Living in a system wormed though with informers for so Long one report Calls informing the system s major Industry where even the buildings spied on people in the streets with to cameras have been awakened passionately from their Corpse like sleep the kiss of democracy on their lips. Guards even Grin through the holes at Wall bangers cooperatively handing chunks of the Wall Back through. They look relaxed in their Lowers. How Nice in must be knowing they Don l have to kill desperate souls scratching toward Freedom anymore even so hip new passions have lifted Easl Berlin and the rest of East Germany from a cemetery of the living dead into a place where the Headquarters of the old Sec ret polic e was stormed by protestors recently where the screaming birth of Freedom is tearing the communist party apart and still germans cry throw the bums out passions about reunification about anti communism and open elections scheduled for March Are turning the old red is dead Side of town into a Crucible where anything can happen. The visitor hears that after so much pecking battering and hammering even Jack hammering on the Wall in is in danger of collapse in places. Good snorts one Wall Banger bring on the bulldozers Berlin is More than a sightseeing trip these Days folks. History gallops alongside about to pass you. An tit German Border guard checks the documents of passengers on a tour bus. East West etiquette the idea of fast West etiquette problems newly appearing in Berlin May seem preposterous to anyone but miss manners. In the eur of ihi1 breaching of the Berlin and the opening of the c Ity spontaneous behaviour was More Gallant than any rules of etiquette could mandate. I was Able to Dame right on top of the Wall said an elderly lady tears in her eyes. From All sides everybody came Forward and helped me even when the excitement began to ebb it would seem that there should be no special problems Between the citizens of East and West Berlin. They Are after All the same people Many of them families who were divided when the Wall went up. But 28 years of separation and the differing circumstances under which they have lived have resulted in a multitude of misunderstandings it is the Normal thing for people in the West to Send the clothes they want to gel rid of to relatives in the East said a Young woman from the West. They were Happy to gel anything old to shirts even. But when some of them visit me now they open my closet and say i like this and this and this they Tell me exactly what they want. They figure i have so much that in does t matter. A Friend of mine gets lists from a Friend in last Berlin who has a new baby and asks for pampers things like that. My Friend has a new baby Loo and is not Well off. They Don t notice East berliners also complain that those from the other Side do not notice How badly off they Are. Giving Advance notice of visits seemed to disappear along with Border restrictions and being dropped in on is gelling to be a hardship. We must know a week or More in Advance when people Are to visit said an East Berliner. We cannot present a feast As easily As they do. We cannot simply go and buy what is needed. Without for All these years my Mother has visited our Many relatives in the East said a Wesl Berliner. Naturally they could t reciprocate but she look them chocolates and Coffee. Now they can come and my Mother has a backlog of 28 years of return visits to receive. She s been holding her House open every weekend. But she is so my English friends have always urged me to visit said a lady from East Berlin. If Only we could smuggle you out somehow they would say. Now Tiey no longer say it. They called right away asking Lor a piece of the Wall. There was no mention of my visiting. We can take very Little Money out we would be a Burden on our Wall picking for souvenirs has developed its own etiquette. Those bringing chisels to gel souvenir chunks Greet one another and offer advice and warnings much As Mountain climbers do As they scare h for Good places to work. Fast Berlin guards wander along the Wall posing or photographs. On whatever patrol duty is left sue h As passing americans and other foreigners through checkpoint Charlie their manner has changed from the intimidating by brusque and thorough every passport picture carefully compared with its owner to pleasant even lackadaisical. It s not exactly i. I m horse i m going to be your Border guard " said an american but it s getting West berliners Are finding that their visitors from the East often need a hand. You have to help them in the bookstores said one Wesl Berliner. Al Home they re not allowed to shop without picking up one of the store s shopping baskets. If there is no Basket they wait. I m always on the Lookout when i see them standing Al the shop door thinking they can t go in. I be gone up to them in restaurants. They we re offered free meals but they Don t come in. They arc so afraid of doing things wrong. They Don t believe that they re allowed to look for seals so the waiter thinks they Are standing near the door because they Are not sure they want to eat they come to our lectures said one of the managers of the massive Urania adult education Center in Wesl Berlin but they Are surprised that people Challenge important speakers and present their own Points of View. Some have said to me Why Don t the speakers feel insulted Why Don t you throw people out i Tell them that in l my Job that other people have a right to speak Loo Only if they threw a Book or something would they be thrown out. Maybe in two or three years they will be ready for this. They Are used to being treated like 6-year-olds." we re used to asking people logo for a walk said an East Berliner. We never talked politics or economics in the Flat. It is better in the Park where there Are Trees. Still we forget. The others ask Why do you want to go for a walk All the time " everyone in the West claims to be Able to recognize East berliners on sight but their criteria arc different the color or style of their clothing their hair styles their mannerisms. Easl berliners for instance Are the shoppers who Are carefully Reading All the labels even on soap and socks before buying anything. They and foreigner visitors often walk e usually along the sidewalks without noticing whether they Are stepping on the red paved cycling Lane. West berliners know that stepping on bicycle territory is a Good Way to get maimed. Finally they Are polite. Several West berliners volunteered this information and marvelled Al it they act As if they Are our Martin is the author of various etiquette guides and the miss manners column that appears each week in stripes Magazine f. Shoppers from both sides of the Border mingle in West Berlin. Ass Ken Kuson february 1, 1990 stripes Magazine 9
