Cultural moment

Our family moved to Germany in the summer of 2000. We have lived here for eight years. Believe it or not, I am still dealing with cultural adjustments. Some may not seem like a big deal, but the little ones add up to build into "cultural stress" that makes you just go "Arrgh! I just don't get it!" Today, as I turned onto our quiet Cul-de sac I soon noticed that the road was blocked by a large oil truck and a car. Both were parked next to each other with no driver near by. My immediate response was one of anger- how dare they block MY way. I should have the right of way. So I stopped, got out and saw the oil truck guy and kindly told him that I needed to get through. He just shrugged at me and told me I was going to have to wait. With anger again steeming through me I thought, I am not going to sit in my car with frozen groceries melting and a cranky toddler only three homes away from my front door and wait for you to load oil into this house. So my only option was to ring the doorbell of my neighbor and see if they could move their car so I could squeeze by. After waiting for their guest to leave, I felt like I was being the bad person, but all I wanted was to get home. "Why can't they make nice wide roads in Germany like in America, that would solve everyone's problem I thought". Like I said another Arrgh moment for me!