The Euro—can we afford the scheisters' new prices?
Okay, let me get this straight: If I am the top hat, rounding the bend past Park Place and “Go,” will I now collect only € 102.26 in Europe’s new legal tender? Will I always need to examine each coin twice before handing it over to the cashier? Everyday transactions in euros, weeks after being put into circulation, still feel like a game. Several small, honest businesses calculate down to the cent, but many others eschew the use of price tags, preferring to shock customers with the total at the cash register. Though most seem to be taking our new “play money” in stride, there is an underlying chaos at hand. Restaurants have begun charging up to 50 percent more, taking the diner for a fool who is unable to convert the new “low” sum into Deutschmarks. A waiter friend of mine is bringing in next to no tips because his customers are disgruntled about the price hikes. One of his patrons even hid one euro in his hand under the table, paid his bill, then held out the coin trying to decide whether to hand over the measly tip. Conversely, many diners complain that they have grossly over-tipped since January 1, generously rounding up a 10 percent tip because the correct amount seems like a pittance.“€ ist dumm,” I recently read on a snow-covered car windshield. Perhaps it was written by a commuter who was unable to purchase a ticket from one of the MVV/MVG’s (Munich’s public transport system) automats because the machine would not yet accept euros and she had no marks in her wallet. Maybe it was written by the gloved hand of a hungry shopper who popped into a sandwich shop in Schwabing and paid one euro for the same olive bread that cost one mark two months ago. The message could certainly have been authored by any one of the thousands of people who are being asked to bear the brunt of the numerous price hikes with the same salary they made last year.
There are many advantages to the euro, but can we afford them? I beg of you all: boycott those shops and establishments that have gone overboard with overcharging. I don’t mean those who have raised their prices slightly because of the new currency, or whose costs have legitimately gone up—after all, Munich Found now costs a few cents more. I am talking about those who have shamelessly raised their prices and, in the case of some restaurants, reduced the size of their portions—one such establishment in Neuhausen has raised its prices by DM 4-5 per dish and eliminated the accompanying salad. Simply take your business elsewhere. Perhaps these establishments will realize, as profits quickly diminish, that this is not Monopoly, and we are counting our cash.
