Now what you should do is show up to her door with a bunch of flowers. Its only right. Otherwise next time you forget them they may end up wet on the floor :P

hmmm flowers might seem inappropiate, how about chocolates ? 

Or a bottle of wine. Just something to say thanks

Flowers or chocolate or wine a big smile and "dankchääää".

And as Maria said - the lady showed how a good persons behaves in Zurich (The standard is indeed very high...)

I would ask her a bit how people handle their washing, if they take out their washing immediately, if there were incidents she did not like etc. That can help to understand what they expect.

Bottle of wine with a thank you delivered. I know how people handle the wash here. Ive been in the apartment 4 years. This is the first time its happend. I overstayed my wash time, by mistake. They expect you to finish on time, if you dont they usually come and ask you to take your stuff out. This is the first time ive forgotton , so it was a nice suprise to find my stuff not only taken out of the wash and dried, but also folded neatly :) 

That's a cool story Karl, especially in a country where passive-aggressive is a prevailing cultural feature.

Wow. I'm with Richard.  that's a surprise ending!

ah ok, sorry... Thought you have just arrived

In this case they must simply like you to finish your washing. Obviously you have done well in the past.

I am surprised at Richard's comment! I agree that the Swiss are not the friendliest of people - I am allowed to say that ;) - but as we say in Switzerland, the sound of the echo depends on the way you shout. Obviously, Karl must have a nice voice ;)

Sorry Doris.  I call it as I see it, and especially on the Swiss-German side I've read FAR too many stories of avoidant, passive-aggressive behavior from the locals to think that there isn't a cultural element involved.

not a terribly suprising comment from Richard. in my old flat I had a late thurs afternoon flight to the UK. So I took my trash out at 4:45 pm instead of the minimum legal time of 7pm or whatever for trash pick up the next day. A tenant got the landlord and they went through my trash to find some mail to identify the trash as mine, and instead of leaving me a note about it, brought the trash back into the building and left it at my doorstep. A nice present waiting for me when I returned 2 days later. and no note either...

I would call that passive aggression...though I'm not a psychologist/psychiatrist. :)

in the states, I doubt you could even pay someone enough to go through someone else's trash bag...let alone just do it to make a point?!?!?!   OMG...

I was just about to support my position with anecdotes regarding the locals and their curious habit of using rules, regies, and the police to curb any behavior they don't like -- instead of knocking on the offender's door -- but Randy did it for me.  =)

It's a good thing that wasn't me, Randy, because I'd be loudly pounding on doors with that bag of trash in my hand.  I respond to passive-aggressive behavior with direct aggression.

Hmm I started this thread as a positve thought for people, simply to show that the swiss people are not always as we paint them to be.

A simple change of perspective :) to the usual knock or bait the swiss . If you respond with agression, you get aggression back. If you respond with a smile you get one back.

There are positive and negative aspects to all kinds of people, wherever you are from. It makes a nice change to talk about the positive side of life here in Switzerland. Which i happen to love and enjoy.

You're a gentleman and a diplomat.  =)

I know what you guys (Randy and Richard) are talking about, I could  contribute stories of even more bitter and weird neighbours - but these are not representative.

I understand that their behaviour irritates you - I assume that in the States they would rather resort to suing people or to active aggression, as suggested by Richard, if they feel like making a point.

Well...there would have been different way by leaving a note that says you are going away and are sorry about early trash disposal...maybe even inside the bag so not all will read it...If you would communicate with your neighbours maybe something like this would not happen...And if the Swiss are annoying, how are we to them then, they had they rules and regulations way before we all got here...Do as the Romans do and you`ll be saved from lot of trouble :)

You're right Doris.  I do love this country...so much so that I ripped up my ticket home and took a local contract. And I do have some wonderful Swiss friends...probably closer and deeper friendships than I had in the states. but there is a high degree of passive aggression here. I experienced a lot of it at my place of work. but you're right. EVERYBODY isn't like that. it's just the really bad ones that stand out. I suppose for every horror story I have a very positive one as well. And yes, I'd probably take passive aggression over the obnoxiously litigal culture of the states. In fact I'm probably one of the most unpatriotic American's you've ever met. i can't wait to return "home" to Basel when I visit.

scratch the apostrophe on American's. man I wish we had an edit feature....i don't type accurately enough for this site :)

I'll turn down the heat on the Swiss by saying that it might be more of a generalized Germanic characteristic and not confined to the borders of Confederation Helvetica.  I've watched Germans play the "I'm going to beat you over the head with this list of rules" game as well.