I dislike both extremes. I agree with your parent post about Aldi being depressing in character, but it's not just the bareness and speed, it's the herding. I've been in an Aldi recently only once, and had gone in just to look around and see if I wanted to shop there in the future. Once inside, I realized that there was no path back outside except through a cashier. Look around and leave? Oh, no, you will buy something in order to be allowed to leave, the design seemed to say.

After I realized that Aldi didn't want to let me leave without buying something, I was determined to buy nothing, and finally waited by the entrance until someone coming in opened the door so that I could leave to the entrance side of the airlock/lobby, and then again for the outer door. I expected this procedure to look very odd and for people to stare, but it must be common enough, since no one seemed to notice.

You can just pass the cashier without buying anything. The cashier won't even notice you. Nearly every bigger supermarket in Germany has only exits at the cashier.

They might not have noticed, but I would have noticed waiting in line. There wasn't room to scoot by the people and their carts, and, as I said, every other route was blocked.

I thought this was to deter theft. It's normal, though not universal, in Irish supermarkets.

Hehehe I think you assume I am American. I don't really like the American experience either for many of the reasons you state. I come from Norway, so we have a all together different system. Like Germany we can't afford to have bag packers and such. However we solve the problem different from Lidl and Aldi. Usually there is a collector behind the conveyer belt, which has two different areas where it can send your stuff. Thus two shoppers can collect their items at the same time. That means you don't have to hurry to pack you stuff before it falls off the conveyor belt like Lidl.

Another common way in Norway is to simply let people scan all the goods themselves while they are shopping. Then you don't need a conveyor belt and cashier at all.

Norwegian grocery stores are also usually quite plain, but not as insanely cheap looking as Lidl and Aldi.

This made me laugh, you'll get used to it and start to enjoy it eventually. It seems like things are more relaxed wherever you are in the us compared to wherever you were previously.

When it comes to the "Do you need something," it's part of their job, if you're looking for something specific it's good to know that there are people available to help you. They're not asking you if you have a reason to be in the store, hah. Just tell them "I'm just looking around, thanks." And they'll tell you "If you need anything, [specific] let me know."

Sure, it's their job but some people simply appreciate being left alone and unsolicited offers just come off as pushy.

Your parent comment is right: it's culture shock. As a German I can't stand the idea of having to shop in American supermarkets. And it's likely no accident that WalMart failed to get a foot into the German market -- not just because of their blatant disregard for German labour laws (which are more worker-friendly than in the US).

I posted this as a response to another comment, but it probably bears repeating. If the person seems genuinely friendly, try taking them up on that offer, and see what happens. If you tell them what you're looking for they may give you recommendations, and you might end up finding something better. This is what typically happens to me.

For a lot of us northern europeans, it just doesn't fit with our culture. We value honesty and straightforwardness above superficial friendliness. Often I find American customer relationships just provocative. So often they act like robots. You can tell that all their smiles and friendly words are all fake. That makes it all feel like I am being lied to and that employees are forced to act in an unnatural way no matter how they feel that day.

I rather have people act friendly towards me because they want to. If they don't feel that great that day, they don't need to smile and put on a show, as long as they don't give me shit.

And also we like our privacy. When people follow you around the store and keep asking if you need help, or comment on something you are looking at, it just feels invasive and disrespectful.

Mind you I do actually frequently enjoy the more chatty nature of things in the US. And many are genuine about it. But the problem is that for every genuine person there seems to be one that does the whole robot routine because the manager has instructed everybody to have crazy smiles and sell as much shit as possible.

I totally understand, dealing with fake friendliness can be unnerving. Just remember, not all of those smiles/friendliness is fake, some of it definitely is, but some of it is genuine, just not at the same intensity as they'd show for close friends/family.

> If they don't feel that great that day, they don't need to smile and put on a show, as long as they don't give me shit.

I'd be fine with this personally.

> And also we like our privacy. When people follow you around the store and keep asking if you need help, or comment on something you are looking at, it just feels invasive and disrespectful.

If the person seems genuinely friendly, try taking them up on that offer, and see what happens. If you tell them what you're looking for they may give you recommendations, and you might end up finding something better.