[mcnesium]

HN, please explain why everyone is so upset with having a time offset in the city/region/country next door.

In Germany, there are 16 states. Many of them have different laws, e.g. regarding store hours and so on. Neighboring countrys like Austria or Poland have even more conservative laws.

The difference between sunrise and sunset in Palermo and Oslo is almost 90 minutes twice a year.

There are tons of cultural differences between Europeans. In southern countries, people tend to stay up later in the evening and sleep longer in the morning than in northern countries (at least that is my impression from traveling).

In the continental United States, there are four time zones, none of which even pay much attention to state borders.

Still, everyone manages to live their lives, talk to people on the phone, commute from one place to the other.

So why are Europeans so afraid that the people they talk to might be an hour or two off?