Encounter with Germany's new party AfD

From our personal shopper department.

"Never go shopping on a Saturday morning during the last four weeks before a German election".

We had forgotten our homegrown advice on how to best avoid being cornered at the shopping cart return.

Germans and some other Europeans make you put a one Euro deposit into a shopping cart to unlock a cart. When you are done shopping, you return the cart to its cart corral and get your coin back.

This is the ideal time and location to corner you.

The cart area is closed off on three sides, and unless you jump the rails on either side, you need to figure out how to deal with the volunteers of whatever political party wants your vote.

Being a foreigner does not help if you look like you belong here.

Getting cornered by the brand new party AfD (Alternative fuer Deutschland) was more interesting than expected. This newly formed Euro skeptic party presents itself as "itself as moderate, academic and middle class" and was also incorrectly called "the German Tea Party".

Their flyers look reasonable, their leadership is educated, yet, TheEditor has a terse one liner after hearing the campaign slogans on this sunny Saturday.

Not stupid but a bunch of wingnuts.

"Greece needs to leave the Euro zone".

"We want a Canadian style immigration system."

If you see these statements in writing, there is nothing wrong, they are opinions shared by some of their mainstream competitors.

Hearing them over a PA, spoken by an enthusiastic young German male, was different. Call me a sissy, or recycle the wingnut label and stick it on me.

The voice creeped me out, so I graciously took the flyer from the smiling woman, said Guten Morgen and schlepped the groceries home.

This Alternative is no alternative.

We need to plan for the next election cycle, write down the rule "No shopping on Saturday morning", find some clothes that signal we are a waste of time.

Patched worn out jeans, a Breaking Bad t-shirt or a tie-dye, or how about a bandana (not gay over here, but biker), we'll see - there is no rush once this is over.