money =/= money
I just thought of an interesting incident in 2006, when I was still living in Berlin. It was late evening and I was waiting for the train at an underground station. There was a vending machine on the platform, some two meters away from me, so I couldn't help but overhear when a man started cursing it in Turkish. He looked about helplessly, pushed some buttons on it, all the while tut-tut-ing and murmuring to himself. This went on for a minute or so, before it made me curious enough to go and see what the problem was. Well, I discovered it quickly.
He was trying to use Deutsche Mark, a currency which had not been in use for six years (four years, apparently, but still) since the introduction of the Euro. I don't even know how he got his hands on those coins.
I tried to explain to him that he had the wrong money. (He did speak a little bit of German.) I showed him my own Euro coins. I successfully bought a chocolate bar right in front of him. All to no avail. When I got on the train, he was still poking Deutsche Mark at the machine in puzzlement and complaining that it was broken.
The mind, it boggles.
He was trying to use Deutsche Mark, a currency which had not been in use for six years (four years, apparently, but still) since the introduction of the Euro. I don't even know how he got his hands on those coins.
I tried to explain to him that he had the wrong money. (He did speak a little bit of German.) I showed him my own Euro coins. I successfully bought a chocolate bar right in front of him. All to no avail. When I got on the train, he was still poking Deutsche Mark at the machine in puzzlement and complaining that it was broken.
The mind, it boggles.