Letter: From Munster without enthusiasm

IN 'Unemployed cast shadow over Europe' (Business, 10 January), Gerald Holtham says: 'British phlegm (with unemployment over 11 per cent) seems limitless'.

On the other hand, appointments published in your supplement often contain the word 'enthusiastic'. The German equivalent is 'enthusiastisch' and means the same. However, nobody in Germany would use the term 'enthusiastic' to characterise an attitude to a job. 'Enthusiastic' would imply nave, uncritical and even unprofessional conduct.

'Redundancy candidates are being put to the test' in the same edition states: '(Redundancy) can lead to the best and most enthusiastic staff leaving while the exhausted cynics stay on.' I heard that a girl in Britain (aged about 17) was sacked from her job as a packer because she was 'not enthusiastic enough'.

My theory is: British phlegm creates both cynics and enthusiasts. Enthusiasts try to overcome phlegm by 'overcompensation'. The only problem left is: why have I never met an enthusiastic Briton? Where were all the cynics when I stayed in your country? My impression was that in the UK people do their job, as do millions of employees on the Continent.

Gerrit Thiessen

Munster, Germany