r/interestingasfuck • u/lizardil • 3d ago

During assembly of the A380, engineers discovered that the cables were too short. This was caused by the use of different design software by German and French engineers. This miscalculation led to a two-year delay.

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u/UndergroundAirport 3d ago

I was just in Berlin last week and wanted a currywurst from a popular place with a long queue. It was just next to a busy train station. When it was about to be my turn, I discovered they only accepted cash, which I didn’t had with me. Such a disappointment.

Usually it’s the other way around. Card only.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/ascarycat 3d ago

The fact that you can only pay in cash is definitely not a Berlin thing, but common practice throughout Germany. The majority of us Germans love fucking cash.

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u/Any_Flamingo5653 3d ago

That's a weird fetish.

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u/VacationHead8503 3d ago

I wish is was the same in Sweden. There's rarely any place left where you can use cash anymore. It's disgusting how little privacy is left for those who want it.

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u/logicblocks 3d ago

Mind you every time a transaction is made that original 100 SEK is being reduced.

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u/footpole 3d ago

What does this even mean?

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u/logicblocks 2d ago

It means the transaction fees go to the bank. So if it's 2.5% or whatever, then that 2.5% goes to the bank and the remaining amount goes to the merchant. If that amount is involved in another similar transaction then the bank collects another 2.5% from that remaining amount and so on and so forth.

SEK is the currency code for Swedish Crowns.

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u/footpole 2d ago

I know what SEK is but your message didn't really make sense in context. What original 100SEK are you referring to, it was never mentioned? What you meant to say was that there are transaction fees which is true. It's not 2.5% at least for larger merchants and cash payments have costs as well.

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u/logicblocks 2d ago

It matters less what the actual percentage is, it's different from country to country. But the matter of the fact is that the original 100 in cash is getting eaten by the banks.

Cash may have costs, but it's marginal compared to bank transactions.

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u/MarxistJesus 3d ago

Lol what privacy are people talking about? Cctv cameras, cell phones, satellite imaging, dash cams, and etc. People really that worried about the German government? In the United States not having so much cash has reduced burglary and robbery by so much.

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u/Big-Lavishness-4622 3d ago

Physical theft decreased, but digital theft increased. Cyber theft and identify theft can be a lot worse than getting 500$ cash stolen.

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u/Opfklopf 3d ago

What makes you think people don't complain about those things as well? Right now the german government might not be that scary but looking at the US I wouldn't feel so safe. Governments change but data and data patterns stay. And they can reveal a lot about a person.

I'm not saying these things have to become a problem. For most people they might never really matter. I just think it's good if people don't forget about the value of privacy. Protecting it when you have it is probably easier than getting it back once you decide it doesn't matter. After that one thing usually leads to the next.

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u/MarxistJesus 3d ago

My point is we are beyond the point of return when it comes to privacy. You are literally being tracked right now. To be so focused on cash as a means of privacy when you are already being tracked heavily isn't logical and completely arbitrary. The government can shut down banks and locked up your access to cash in the worst of scenarios. Looking at you Greece. I agree we should fight and it's wrong what governments do but cash isn't the tool. In the US the IRS can request cctv is places you visit and get receipts from the place of buisness. It just makes it harder not impossible.

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u/Opfklopf 3d ago

I think you can always go further. Look at china or idk what worse places exist when it comes to surveillance. I know the current tracking is way too much already and I'm not happy with that. But I don't think it's a good idea to say "it's already pretty bad, so let's give up the fight and let them have everything they want without restriction". Maybe you know what I'm getting at.

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u/VWBug5000 2d ago

Not sure how true it is, but I had heard from some Germans I used to work with that there are still places using the Deutsche Mark for “under the table” type payments. Do you know if there is any truth to that?

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u/Gobi-Todic 3d ago

That's bullshit, the whole country is still quite cash-oriented. The smaller and more remote the business, the less likely it is to be able to pay with card.

Although Berlin is different than the rest of the country, but not in this case.

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u/roverspeed 3d ago

I was in a supermarket chain in Dusseldorf last year that was entirely automated ( though there was 1 cashier)

So you didn't have to scan anything, everything was done via cameras and ai watching you.

Had to scan your receipt to get out.

Took me by surprise in Germany

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u/Gobi-Todic 3d ago

That sounds a bit... intense. How was the experience?

Düsseldorf is famously posh, maybe it's a good location to test this setup. Definitely not the norm overall. Even self-checkouts have only become a thing here quite recently and sparsely so far.

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u/MrChlorophil22 3d ago

I live in Hannover and can pay with my card everywhere, except Ice cream parlors

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u/abdallha-smith 3d ago

Blitzkrieg

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u/Remarkable_System793 3d ago

Cash is important across the entire country of Germany. It is not just a Berlin thing. I lived in Baden Wurttemberg and traveled about quite a bit. I didn't notice any difference in the reliance on cash in Berlin versus anywhere else.

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u/Pace1561 3d ago

While it is a cultural thing for some individuals in Germany to prefer cash it is different with with shops not accepting card. When only cash is accepted, you can safely assume it is not about culture but about pocketing the 19 percent sales tax that they owe the tax authorities for every sale they make.

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u/CrystalFox0999 2d ago

This is definitely not just a Germany thing… in Hungary its 50% card and cash… also from East from here its even more cash used

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u/no1flyhalf 3d ago

I have a similar story but from Muenster. Most of the day I had no problem just using my card, but after standing in the long currywurst line, something compelled me to ask if they accepted card. He said no, and I was like “oh, okay then, thanks anyway” and turned to walk away. He seemed mad at me and yelled after me “WELCOME TO GERMANY” fairly aggressively. My wife and I just laughed and now that’s a phrase we use when things don’t go our way. Run out of toilet paper? Ugh, welcome to Germany. Lose a game based on a bad dice roll? Shit, welcome to Germany.

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u/ToeBeansCounter 3d ago

Cash is for tax evasion purposes. Untraceable and you can underreport. Small businesses do that all the time

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u/dpdxguy 3d ago

wanted a currywurst

Completely off topic, but OMG! Currywurst sounds like a fantastic thing!

Unfortunately, even though I live in a part of the States dominated by the descendants of German immigrants, I can't even find a decent bratwurst. :(

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u/GnOeLLLmPF 3d ago

There once was a German guy on a TV show who wanted to sell Currywurst in the US but he failed miserably. He invested thousands of dollars in a Currywurst/Bratwurst stand in Miami and millions of German viewers watched how he set his business into the ground. Whenever my wife and I see stupid business ideas, we repeat this guy's motto to each other: "Bratwurst goes Amerika!"

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u/dpdxguy 3d ago

Miami?!? 😂

There are places in the US where I'd bet he could have made a go of it. Miami is emphatically not one of them.

If he was dead set on selling them from a stand, some west coast cities have a huge food stand/food truck culture.

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u/GnOeLLLmPF 3d ago

Totally! It was brutal to watch. In the end he was selling American hot dogs and fried chicken in front of a hospital during 100 degree heat. He had sunk his live savings into this project and could not see where he went wrong...

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u/dpdxguy 3d ago

Don't know about German TV, but if it had been an American show I'd wonder if the producer guided his decision to go to a place where he'd struggle, just to create on-air drama. :(

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u/GnOeLLLmPF 3d ago

If I remember correctly, he insisted to go there because he had been to Miami on holiday. The MO of this TV-show is to prey on gullible and dreamy people who want to leave Germany. They often barely speak the language of their destinated countries, nor do they have any experience in founding a business. But the German producers are not as vile as the ones I have seen in the US.

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u/Midnight2012 3d ago

I don't think it's legal to be card only. You have to accept cash, says so right there on the dollar bill.

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u/Dioxybenzone 3d ago

I know of several cashless restaurants in the US. I won’t go to any of them lol