Rebuking: the Swiss National Sport

Quite a lot has been written about the gruff, surly Swiss. Now, from what I have been able to observe and experience on my own skin in the past years I can confirm that rebuke is indeed the Swiss national sport.
If you are moving to Switzerland be prepared to be at the receiving end of a good deal of reproofing. But take heart: it really isn't personal. It's not you, it's them.
The degree and intensity of this national trait will vary from canton to canton, and from person to person.


While on some occasions you will be able to see clearly the good intent behind the moderate reprimanding and therefore take it in your stride, on many others it will be so abrasive and rude that it's almost guaranteed to infuriate you (even more so if you are not fluent in the language spoken in the canton you find yourself in).
I worked for years with some wonderful clients from Ticino - the Italian Speaking canton - and, although we spoke the same language, I was reproached many times with no half measures. The topics ranged from my wrong choice of shoes for a business meeting (“You are wearing ballet pumps? I absolutely detest them, they are unsuitable footwear for a professional meeting”) to any shortcomings in my networking skills (“You haven't introduced yourself yet to Mr XYZ? Go over now, immediately!”).
But although my ego was a little bit irked, I could feel that they did it because they liked me and cared for me. As I said the intention is not to offend. Rather, it seems to generate from a moral imperative to illuminate people on the extent of all their failings so that they can be enabled to mend their ways.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case and when this national skill is taken to the other extreme it will cause some serious friction. My 4 year-old son was told off by an horribly rude elderly lady at the Grand-Sacconex toy library in Geneva, who felt it was her moral duty to impart him a lesson on her personal concept of orderliness. She snatched from his hands the box of Legos he was playing with and put it back on the shelf, totally oblivious to his desperate wailings.
The idea that her concept of tidiness might not be the same as that of a 4 year-old boy spending a couple of hours in a toy library did not even cross her mind. Nor the fact that she might be very ill suited to work with children in a place dedicated to toys and play.
After all, why worry about the log in your own eyes when there are so many different specks to notice in the eyes of the people around you ?