In lockdown, 'desperate' Swiss turn to snooping and snitching

[snoop1130]

In lockdown, 'desperate' Swiss turn to snooping and snitching

By Emma Farge

 

FILE PHOTO: A sculpture of monkeys is pictured on the desk of Christian Sideris, founder of detective agency Seeclop, during an interview with Reuters amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Geneva, Switzerland April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

 

GENEVA (Reuters) - A mother checking on her ex-husband’s sexual habits to protect their asthmatic child; a retiree frustrated with a neighbour who talks loudly on late-night conference calls; a woman angry with a family downstairs for hosting large play dates.

 

These are all client requests made to a Swiss private detective since the country imposed coronavirus confinement measures six weeks ago.

 

Christian Sideris, founder of Seeclop, a six-man detective agency in Geneva, has refused all but one of them, urging his callers to seek other solutions in extraordinary times, but the requests reveal the mounting frustration of living together.

 

“We have a lot of these types of cases because people are confined and on top of each other all day,” he said, describing some callers as “desperate”.

 

Normally, Sideris gets between two and four requests a year for such cases. Since lockdown began, he has had two a week.

 

He accepted the asthmatic child case since, after a week of trailing the father, it showed he had multiple girlfriends and visitors despite COVID-19 restrictions, a potentially important part of the custody dispute.

 

“In normal times, you would never have a judge who asks about his different mistresses or whether he stays far enough away in the grocery queue but these are not normal times,” said Sideris, one of Geneva’s 468 registered agents.

 

The Swiss are known for complaining about their neighbours, often using rules designed to keep the noise down. These are rigorously enforced in Geneva, where 16th Century protestant reformer John Calvin banned instrumental music when he was in charge.

 

Today, Geneva’s Public Health and Tranquility Law regulates the hours for practising a musical instrument and home DIY, with fines of up to 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,000). Running a bath after 9 p.m. is banned.

 

As the coronavirus crisis drags on, police said noise complaints in Geneva had more than doubled this month to 1,233, including about kids on scooters indoors and late-night home improvements.

 

One resident complained to police about a neighbourhood choir intended to cheer people up.

 

“We were disappointed and sad,” said resident Audrey Lecomte. The choir got off with a warning and responded by reducing the show’s length and placing chalk markers to encourage spectators to social-distance.

 

The police are back, but only to watch, and one grumpy neighbour said the music still went on for “too long”.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-30

 

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[Logosone]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Switzerland is weird place with weird people.

 

Then again we've seen variations on this theme in the UK where a nurse was chastised for violating the lockdown.

 

Still, Geneva is one place I'll be giving a miss.

[Kadilo]

14 minutes ago, Logosone said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Switzerland is weird place with weird people.

 

Then again we've seen variations on this theme in the UK where a nurse was chastised for violating the lockdown.

 

Still, Geneva is one place I'll be giving a miss.

I’m sure it never happens in Germany ????

[Logosone]

Of course not. I would be amazed if anyone would waste money with a private detective because the family downstairs is hosting a large play date for her kids. That's got to be a Swiss thing.????

 

I'd be more inclined to hire a detective to find out why the Swiss charge 4 Euro for a coffee.

[off road pat]

1 hour ago, Logosone said:

Of course not. I would be amazed if anyone would waste money with a private detective because the family downstairs is hosting a large play date for her kids. That's got to be a Swiss thing.????

 

I'd be more inclined to hire a detective to find out why the Swiss charge 4 Euro for a coffee.

And 9.50 Swiss Franc for a beer in Zurich !!!

[tifino]

but the bottom line; is that these Swiss opted to request professional assistance!

 - they didn't just go out on their own bat, and start killing the 'noisy etc' neighbours...

 

 - this is why the Thais have taken a sort of novel interest in a Story of something that is totally backwards to their own psych!

[techietraveller84]

2 hours ago, tifino said:

but the bottom line; is that these Swiss opted to request professional assistance!

 - they didn't just go out on their own bat, and start killing the 'noisy etc' neighbours...

 

 - this is why the Thais have taken a sort of novel interest in a Story of something that is totally backwards to their own psych!

Intriguing. So the Thai's might skip the private investigator thing and jump right into violence?

[rasmus5150]

[Davo369]

I hate snitches.. I mean really hate em...

[Tug]

Oh well you know tho old adage snitches get stitches 

[torturedsole]

Oh I don't know.  If it's a toss up between a Thai neighbour and a Swiss one then I'll go along with the neighbour that's socially conditioned to not running a bath after 9pm.  ????

[Burma Bill]

Easy solution, set up a "snitch" free call number like 1178 in Thailand!! 

[Chomper Higgot]

15 hours ago, Logosone said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Switzerland is weird place with weird people.

 

Then again we've seen variations on this theme in the UK where a nurse was chastised for violating the lockdown.

 

Still, Geneva is one place I'll be giving a miss.

It is an odd place.

 

While there in the mid 80s to compete at Zurich’s Oerlikon velodrome, I returned from a morning training ride to be greeted by three neighbors pointing and angrily complaining that I’d left my Duvet airing on my window for 40 minutes past the time it should have been taken in.

 

It wasn’t so much that they were pointing out my discretion, nor even their state of agitation that I thought odd, it was that they never let up, and followed me up the communal stairs to my door.

 

Being ‘hen pecked’ by the Swiss is something I’ll alway remember.

 

It is a very odd place.

 

Nice scenery though.

 

[Chomper Higgot]

A mother checking on her ex-husband’s sexual habits to protect their asthmatic child

 

I’m glad the OP went on to explain the issue was the father having multiple sexual partners, on first reading the opening paragraph I imagined his adult fun and games must have been kicking up clouds of dust.

[Phil McCaverty]

The only person that I've ever had a serious ruck with was a Swiss woman in the school car park. I was reversing out of my parking space when she drove across the back of me. We both got out of our cars and it was immediately obvious that no damage was done to either car. She insisted on my insurance details which I refused as no damage had been done. She went completely apoplectic. Insisted that she might find some damage when she got home. She phoned the police who obviously gave her short shrift so then she asked the car park attendant to get the school director. School director was at a complete loss for what to do so apologised to me and guided me out of my parking space and I drove of leaving the Swiss woman jumping up and down and screaming expletives in French.

 

Two things about the incident puzzled me, when she learned that I was English her anger visibly went up a level. I later learned from a Thai friend who was raised in Switzerland that he was openly taught in school to hate the English and was surprised to find, when he returned to Thailand and began associating with Brits what nice people we were, in his words, much nicer than the Swiss.

 

The other was when I spoke in Thai to my wife, she got quite arrogant and claimed that she knew what I was saying. Clearly not as my wife and i always converse in Lao/Issan, not Thai.

 

Definitely one of the most racist, arrogant, bigoted people that I've ever met in my life.

[rudi49jr]

16 hours ago, Kadilo said:

I’m sure it never happens in Germany ????

Well, when it comes to “gründlichkeit” and “pünktlichkeit” and being a law-abiding citizen in general, the Swiss are like Germans on steroids. 

[sangtip2]

So are we finished Swiss bashing today .  

[BobBKK]

Can he find out why Prawit flies to Switzerland monthly?  for 'health checks'?

[sangtip2]

3 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Can he find out why Prawit flies to Switzerland monthly?  for 'health checks'?

I think they still sell beer there .

[colinneil]

3 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Can he find out why Prawit flies to Switzerland monthly?  for 'health checks'?

People with diplomatic passports dont get stopped/ searched, what a fantastic way to carry loads of dosh, to deposite in a Swiss bank.

[roo860]

1 hour ago, Phil McCaverty said:

The only person that I've ever had a serious ruck with was a Swiss woman in the school car park. I was reversing out of my parking space when she drove across the back of me. We both got out of our cars and it was immediately obvious that no damage was done to either car. She insisted on my insurance details which I refused as no damage had been done. She went completely apoplectic. Insisted that she might find some damage when she got home. She phoned the police who obviously gave her short shrift so then she asked the car park attendant to get the school director. School director was at a complete loss for what to do so apologised to me and guided me out of my parking space and I drove of leaving the Swiss woman jumping up and down and screaming expletives in French.

 

Two things about the incident puzzled me, when she learned that I was English her anger visibly went up a level. I later learned from a Thai friend who was raised in Switzerland that he was openly taught in school to hate the English and was surprised to find, when he returned to Thailand and began associating with Brits what nice people we were, in his words, much nicer than the Swiss.

 

The other was when I spoke in Thai to my wife, she got quite arrogant and claimed that she knew what I was saying. Clearly not as my wife and i always converse in Lao/Issan, not Thai.

 

Definitely one of the most racist, arrogant, bigoted people that I've ever met in my life.

It's because of all that yodeling.

[Phil McCaverty]

Just now, roo860 said:

It's because of all that yodeling.

She was doing some serious yodeling. Probably heard her in Geneva.

[BobBKK]

23 minutes ago, colinneil said:

People with diplomatic passports dont get stopped/ searched, what a fantastic way to carry loads of dosh, to deposite in a Swiss bank.

I understood he has a 'health issue' in most other countries the Press would be all over this story

[rasmus5150]

36 minutes ago, sangtip2 said:

So are we finished Swiss bashing today .  

It would take a lot more than a day ????

[AgMech Cowboy]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Running a bath after 9 p.m. is banned.

Really, I can't think of a better time, except at 04:30 in the morning. ????????

[AgMech Cowboy]

58 minutes ago, sangtip2 said:

So are we finished Swiss bashing today .  

Apparently not. ????

[Rookiescot]

15 hours ago, off road pat said:

And 9.50 Swiss Franc for a beer in Zurich !!!

Yeah but its good beer.

[Phil McCaverty]

55 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Can he find out why Prawit flies to Switzerland monthly?  for 'health checks'?

Some wag keeps booking him into Dignitas.

[Rookiescot]

1 hour ago, sangtip2 said:

So are we finished Swiss bashing today .  

So much bashing to do and with so little time on my hands.

????

[roo860]

1 hour ago, sangtip2 said:

So are we finished Swiss bashing today .  

Hopefully not.