Non slip Germans

The snow from Sunday's blizzard is gradually going, helped by no snow yesterday and rain early this morning, so now instead of lovely white crunchy snow we have nasty slippery grey slush. It's been lethal out there today.

But I think the Germans have another weapon against bad weather, or maybe it's just part of their well organised nature, I'm convinced that they all wear invisible crampons on their shoes that I can't see (because they're invisible) or perhaps they just have non slip feet? Or another idea, maybe they all have an amazing sense of balance (an inner gyroscope maybe? or maybe they're related to Weebles)...I just don't understand why, when it's as slippery as a really slippery thing out there on the roads and pavements, I fall over and they're all upright.

Why is this? It's not like I had silly shoes on - I had my grippiest walking shoes on and was on the flat as well and still I ended up flat on my arse in the middle of the nasty slushy road, I shall have a big black bum in a day or so...

In town itself, which is where we were heading when I fell on my arse, there seemed to be no-one slipping and sliding around (apart from me that is). We'd planned to walk down the hill for coffee and a spot of last minute Xmas present shopping, but decided it was too dangerous & took the car instead, a good job, I think I'd have ended up in hospital!

I started looking at people's footwear to check, but there was no visible sign of crampons (so if they're there, they must be invisible) and lots of them, if not most of them had normal shoes on. I even saw an old guy coming down our hill (1 in 7 gradient according to my dad, and it's an excellent sledging hill according to my son) with normal shoes on. There must be a trick to it that I, as a non native, do not possess.

Germans seem to me to be non slip, while little old British me is as slippery as an eel!