Tuesday, September 05, 2006

5 September 2006

A recent study prompted the Swiss government to issue a bulletin warning that about 50,000 people in Switzerland are addicted or in danger of becoming addicted to the Internet. 50,000? That seems very low for a country that has almost 7 million people. Does that number include expats living in Switzerland? If so, then I can almost guarantee that the figure is too low, as there are tens of thousands of us, and I'm sure our rate of Internet addiction is higher than among native Swiss.

If it's accurate, however, what addiction have they found instead of the Internet?? And is it so bad to be addicted to the Internet, it's better than heroin, right? It's cheaper, it's publicly acceptable, and it's something you can do at work or in front of your parents or small children (depending on what sites you visit, obviously). I'm not really sure what the Swiss government is trying to accomplish by warning people of the dangers of the Internet. Maybe they should focus on the smoking problem, since millions of people in Switzerland are addicted to cigarettes, and no one has ever died from secondhand Internet.

There are certain things that I never got around to doing since moving here, partly due to laziness, and partly due to an inability to figure out how long I'll be here, and whether the length of my stay is enough to justify such things. Until recently, I hadn't bought any picture frames and I hadn't bought guest towels. I figured that I could just stick the pictures on the wall in plastic sleeves, and that my guests could use one of the three towels I brought over here as part of my "single person living alone" stock of household goods. I've been here for over two years, however, so I finally decided that I could invest in a few picture frames and another two bath towels. I am not the worst of the lot, however, as I have several friends who have been here for a year or more, and who still don't have a hammer, a screwdriver, or place settings for more than two people.

A few months after I moved here, my bank called me and asked me if I wanted a Swiss credit card. I said no, as I already had a few American cards. They said it had a low, low annual fee of 99 CHF (about $80), and I again said no, as I've never had to pay a credit card fee before. They offered to waive the fee for the first year and to link the card to my account, so that I wouldn't have to bother with monthly payments unless I wanted to, so I finally caved and let them send me a card. Based on that experience, I assumed that getting a credit card in Switzerland is much like getting a card in the States: everyone and their mother will try to throw credit cards your way, as long as you are human and seem to want to spend money.

As it turns out, my experience was the exception to the rule. Several of my expat friends and colleagues have had ridiculously difficult times getting Swiss credit cards. Bank reps have told them that they can't get a card with the permits they have (the same permit I had when I got my card), and that they have to have a minimum account balance to cover the maximum charge limit on their cards at all times (which runs against the underlying concept of credit, besides which, I have gone negative on my account balance and put charges on my credit card without a problem). Perhaps the Swiss knew that I would stick around long enough not only to pay my credit card bills, but also to buy picture frames and bath towels, and they were therefore more comfortable providing me with the credit to make such long-term commitment purchases.

Parents coming in town, just in time for Knabenschiessen (the holiday when local kids shoot things).

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