Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

finland.fi

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 86 posts

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#71

Post by haasted »

mikorym wrote: post #11
jedberg wrote: post #7

My first time in Finland was last May (incidentally to give a talk at Smartly in the very office featured in the photo). I love Finland. You can tell from the moment you arrive that the entire country cares about the welfare of everyone there. It started when we got on the train from the airport. We were told that not only do kids ride public transit for free, but anyone pushing their stroller does too. Talk about su…

I think it takes a very conscious effort for a society to get to that stage. In some countries, you see individual greed being pushed to crazy extremes. Notwithstanding dictatorships, some politicians are willingly and wittingly sacrificing millions of people for a single individual objective. But I think the latter is the default position of humanity. The opposite is also a problem: When you justify every action as…

The Finns are not particularly peaceful when it counts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#72

Post by mosselman »

pinkfoot wrote: post #66
diminish wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also smaller countries are more peaceful. I'm curious if Finland had over 100m population, how it would become.

It would depend a lot on which people went to live there. The Swiss or Japanese? Probably much the same. Afghans? Less so.

Wtf?

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#73

Post by oblio »

socialdemocrat wrote: post #40
baddox wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How easy is it to immigrate to Finland and enjoy these advantages of Finnish society? If it’s easy, then I wonder why more people don’t do it. If it’s difficult, then it feels a little disingenuous to praise a society for privileging the people who just so happen to be born there. Obviously I’m not discounting the notion than certain societies can treat people better than other societies. I’m only trying to point out…

Not sure about Finland but my native Norway pops up in these kinds of discussions frequently as well. Moving to Norway is in fact relatively easy as long as you get a job which requires some kind of higher education or special skill. You cannot move to Norway just to flip burgers. But you can move to Norway as say a sushi chef or geologist. I would expect Finland as a fellow Nordic country to be similar. The reason w…

You're forgetting English. Learning a foreign language is really hard and many people learn English as school/by listening to music/by watching movies/TV series/etc. Few people want to go through the hassle of learning another foreign language.

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#74

Post by sethammons »

badpun wrote: post #58
sethammons wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where can $1k/mo. provide that? I live in nowhere Montana and the cheapest rent I could just find was $650/mo before utilities ($900/mo. in the town I went to high school at in California in a mobile home park, so it likely did not count space rent). Utilities: I'm not sure. I have a big place; I can spend as much as $600/mo in winter or $200/mo in summer. Let's say someone can get by on $100/mo. That $1k is gone in…

Quick lookup revealed rooms for rent in Montana from $275/month. You won't have a whole place for yourself, but that in itself is an inflated modern standard.

I didn't think of renting a room, interesting point. I could only find one at $400/mo in my town fwiw

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#75

Post by chantelles »

leke wrote: post #46

I've been living in Finland for the last 20 years, and this story is pretty accurate. I've dropped a wallet to have the finder hand it in to the nearest supermarket, who then contacted me to pick it up. People typically write their names or phone numbers on bus cards, in case something similar happens. Lose a phone? Go to the police station. It's usually been handed in. If you lose something, you can expect to get it…

My partner is Finnish and so I stay a few weeks every year for years. I am Canadian and the cultures are very similar (northern, low population density, WASP-y, racialized immigrant hating - eg calling the dialect of Finnish refugee immigrants speak "bacterium").

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#76

Post by fit2rule »

maeln wrote: post #47
vhakulinen wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More and more places are "offering to give a tip" at least in Helsinki when paying by card. The machine asks if you want to give some or not. Its... weird.

This as been happening in France also. We were also never giving tips before because there is a minimum wage but now, almost every bar & restaurant do it. I wonder if it is not some form of US cultural influence. We see people tipping in series, films and such and start to do it to.

The credit card machines are probably set up to prompt the waiter for a tip. This is a common feature on POS systems, regardless of whether its sold in USA or Turkey.

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#77

Post by xornox »

Johjd wrote: post #61
xornox wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Language is one of the main reasons for low immigration. Local employers expect very often Finnish speaking skills. Even highly educated foreigners may have difficulties to find a job because of this, often ridiculous and unnecessary requirement.

It is not a rediculous requirement when you go to someone's country. Noone called you to go there and you have the nerve to impose your will? The best thing you would have to do is to respect that country and learn their language and customs.

Yes that is true, but Finnish people speak quite good English and many job positions does not really require perfect Finnish skills.

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#78

Post by xornox »

Hamuko wrote: post #65
xornox wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father did not ever lock car or house in Finland. It is very real, but trust has been going down year by year.

I don't believe that unless he lives in the countryside.

He lived in a quite small town (< 10 000) people. Just few generations ago nobody locked houses in small Finnish towns. They just set a broom against the out door to tell everybody that the house is empty and door is open.

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#79

Post by Symbiote »

fit2rule wrote: post #76
maeln wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This as been happening in France also. We were also never giving tips before because there is a minimum wage but now, almost every bar & restaurant do it. I wonder if it is not some form of US cultural influence. We see people tipping in series, films and such and start to do it to.

The credit card machines are probably set up to prompt the waiter for a tip. This is a common feature on POS systems, regardless of whether its sold in USA or Turkey.

Naturally all the machines support it, but it's up to the owner of the business whether to enable that feature or not.

Re: When a cleaner finds 5 euros at a Finnish office

#80

Post by jedberg »

StavrosK wrote: post #68
jedberg wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m totally cool with that part! I remember walking home from the event and thinking “wow the streets are empty considering how early it is” only to realize it was 10:30pm. The lat few days of our trip the sun never set. Blackout shades are all I need to solve that. It’s the lack of sun in winter I couldn’t handle.

So why were the streets empty that early? EDIT: I now realize most people won't get the tongue-in-cheek nature of my comment, as over here 10:30 is considered quite early and most people go out at midnight, with the peak being around 2am.

It was a work day and I was in the business area I guess?
Post reply on HN