Guten Morgen - A Glorious Greeting

I post, therefore I am! I'm a bit sad that I haven't posted in a while. I enjoy doing this, but have been crazy busy as of late. Work has been hectic.

While I was working all sorts of insane hours before Christmas the regular security guard at the front desk has vacation. In Germany one commonly greets the security guard each morning with a Guten Morgen. I noticed while greeting the back-up security guard each morning I was in a good mood.

In January while I continued to work all sorts of insane hours the regular security guard returned to his post and I started greeting him each morning. I noticed that when I greet him my mood goes just a bit sour.

With his absence and return I was able to put my finger on why my mood changes with his greeting.

The German morning, mid-day, and evening greetings have a rhythm, tone, and inflection to them. And this security guards strikes the wrong tone and inflects in the wrong direction.

Here is my assessment of the tones associated with each of the greetings North Rhine Westphalia.

The morning greeting Guten Morgen is a bit like a song and the tone in one's voice raises at the end of the Morgen. It is as if you are waking up, and having a great start to the day.

The daytime Guten Tag greeting is short, direct, firm, and serious. It is often shortened to Tag.

The evening greeting Guten Abend is similar to the morning greeting, except that the tone is a bit more subdued. The tone and inflection at the end of Abend goes down a bit and has a bit of a feeling of parting in its song-like tones, and a hint of sadness at departing.

Now, back to the regular security guard. His Guten Morgen is simply atrocious. I don't like greeting him. The tone goes flat and the inflection neither raises or lowers. For me it is simply like someone playing the wrong note at a critical point in a beautiful piece of music.

I remember dearly missing the morning greetings after returning home from my missionary service in Germany in 1992. Whilst a missionary I attended the local congregations each Sunday. And each Sunday each member of the congregation would greet every other member of the congregation in the entry way of the meeting house. You heard a lot of Guten Morgens. And almost every one had that quality of praising, embracing the day, singing out joy that one had risen and rejoicing with the other person that they had also risen, looking forward to a glorious new day.