#417: Mohrenstraße still Mohrenstraße, Rewe racism?, S-Bahn faux pas
Millionaires everywhere!
Hey 20 Percent!
The problem with self-checkout in Germany is the inability to correct any mistake.
Scan your single package of vegan Maultaschen twice or weigh your pears as peaches and you have to wait for a surly, soon-to-be-replaced-by-self-checkout cashier to give you side eye while correcting your error.
Earlier this week I had finished the whole procedure at the Kulturbrauerei Rewe flawlessly but as I picked up my paper bag to leave, the scanner thought I was buying a new one and scanned it in. Since I was done and I couldn’t correct the mistake, I just ignored it and left.
“Be more careful! You just re-scanned your paper bag!” the not-replaced-soon-enough-by-self-checkout cashier yelled at me. I had no idea she was yelling at me until I was already past her so I had ignored her. When I realized she meant me, I just decided to continue ignoring her.
“Hallo!” she yelled at me. “HAAAALLLLOOOOO!” Weird how Berliners can turn a greeting into an insult.
It was just another of the tiny aggressions in Berlin that I — even after 25 years — still don’t understand. Why is it now my fault that a team of software engineers and UX designers did a poor job? And is being friendly too much to ask?
“Oh, you accidentally scanned that bag again. Let me get that for you,” would have made both our days that much better. And she would have gotten an, “Oh, sorry” and “danke schön” from me.
And I would never have had to write this intro.
I’m writing this in Bonn where the weather is much cooler. Hope it’s similar in Berlin (supposed to rain this weekend).
Andrew
Did I mention the 20% comedy night? It’s on Sept. 11! One of Germany’s funniest comedians — Vincent Pfäfflin — will be there (in English) as will Radio Spätkauf’s Dan Stern (and me). More acts to follow! Get tix here!
Um, that was my stop
Ever wonder where S-Bahns go to spend the night? 20 passengers found out early Thursday when a driver on the S7 piloted his train without stop from Nöldnerplatz past Ostkreuz and Warschauer Straße onto a siding after he discovered several issues with the train, according to RBB24. One of the issues was apparently a broken intercom: He couldn’t tell passengers to get off at Nöldnerplatz before he took the thing out of service. The driver returned to Warschauer Straße after realizing his glaringly obvious error.
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Violence in Lichtenberg Rewe
Ah the casual racism of life in this country: A 42-year-old Rewe employee is without a job after slapping a customer Monday, according to Tagesspiegel. The woman and her children were shopping at the Lichtenberg Rewe when her kids began picking up products and placing them in the wrong area on shelves. The employee first warned the kids to behave before confronting — and slapping — the mother. The woman landed in a hospital and at least one social media video claims the event was related to the victim’s Vietnamese roots. Cops are considering charges of assault against the employee but claim race played no role.
Just rename it already
There’s nothing Germans fear more than change — just check out the four-year battle over the re-naming of Mohrenstraße in Mitte. An administrative court Thursday halted the re-naming to Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Straße Saturday, even though a ceremony was planned and many street signs have already been changed, according to Tagesspiegel. The court ruled that Mitte couldn’t change the name until the many cases against the change were settled because there’s no urgency. Mitte wants the change because the German for “Moor” is often seen as a racist term connected to colonialism but residents fear the bureaucratic steps connected to living on a street with a new name. In the 18th century, Anton Wilhelm Amo became the first African to study and teach (philosophy) at a German university.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
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Factoid
The number of Berliners who earn more than €1 million per year exploded between 2012 and 2022 to 1,491 from 494, according to RBB24. Wait — you can have a seven-figure salary? The most live (shocker) in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf followed by Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Oh, and 19% of Berliners lived on the cusp of poverty in 2022, up from 15% in 2012 — the income-millionaires’ money doesn’t just grow on trees! 2022 is the last year for which figures are available and the numbers don’t include passive sources like interest income or profit on stock sales.
I will forever be on the side of a) keeping our legacies of racism around pissing people off so we don't forget our legacies of racism and b) hoping Moor will be reclaimed like gay was.
WRT salaries there IS such a thing as public goods – not everything is zero sum, but nice work showing that in Berlin both ends of the spectrum are going up and it might not be a coincidence.
Ha-ha…my son and I had the same conversation about ‘Hallo!’, too! Very weird how a universal greeting somehow becomes something else here…ha-ha!
Sterling work, boys!