A good point

You know, German people can be a doozy. What I mean is, in addition to being very precise, it doesn't take much for a German person to take issue with a point you make or anything else you might say. For example, ask a German person if he likes chocolate -- a question most people in America would answer with a simple yes -- he is likely to respond, “It depends.” Ask a German person if he did anything interesting over the weekend, it is not unlikely that he will respond with a flat no. Reason being: he truly doesn't believe that anything he did on Saturday or Sunday would interest anyone. One time, for an article I was writing, I asked a guy who was a major antique collector if he had any other “hobbies.” Instead of answering my question, he stopped dead and said, “This here” -- pointing around to his antiques -- “is not a hobby.” He had taken issue with my having used the adjective “other.”

Bottom line: Germans don’t liked to be pinned down and are very aware of the train of logic in any given argument. Perhaps this sensitivity has to do with their culture. Germany is known for its philosophers, and arguments and language are very important in philosophy. Perhaps it has to do with WWII and how language was very much manipulated by the Nazis. I don’t know. What I do know is many Germany people at least in my experience like to argue, to verbally spar, to ask, “What exactly do you mean by that?” to raise counterarguments to your argument.

One of the best counterarguments that I've heard from a German recently was in a Letter to the Editor in a local newspaper. The writer of the letter was responding to an article about an animal-rights group having protested the pony rides at the local fair. The writer's argument was so sharp and was such a good illustration of what I mean when I talk about the German argumentative spirit, it needs no introduction. Enjoy.

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What exactly is animal cruelty? 

July 30: Another protest against the pony rides at the fair. 

Why are animal-rights protesters making so much noise about the pony ride at the fair? Sport horses often have to spend 22 hours a day in a box because they are not allowed to go out to pasture due to risk of injury. Furthermore, horses are transported in stuffy hangers and are exposed to a lot of uncomfortable noise at tournaments. Then they are locked away again.

The ponies, on the other hand, get to move throughout the day, don’t spend their day in a box and get plenty of attention from children. Maybe it's time to rethink what we mean when we talk about "animal cruelty."