Moien, bonjour, and hello. How was your Glühwein, your vin chaud? How do you call it in English? Hot wine? No. Mulled wine, yes, that’s it. Did you enjoy it?
You would like to get your deposit back? Wonderful. I will take the mug, but please also give me the – how do you say it in English? – yes, the plastic token. Take your time. I will serve other customers.
Sorry about that. So many people this year. Have you found the plastic token? My apologies to be such a – stickler for rules, yes, interesting expression – but indeed, I really do need the plastic token along with the mug. It’s just the way it is.
Check your pockets again. Perhaps it is buried. I know, it’s not easy to find when your fingers are sticky from the mulled wine and sugary waffles, but I advise you to really dig deep. Those little plastic tokens love to hide. Pardon me. I will be back in a moment.
I’m back. You still have not found it? I’m sorry, but I cannot return your deposit unless you give me the plastic token. Why, you ask? You must be new to this land, or someone who does not know history.
That plastic token is proof that you, yourself, paid for the mug of mulled wine. It is a symbol of law and order. No, I cannot make an exception. I need the plastic token. True, it may be worth less than one cent, but I don’t care.
This system has existed for hundreds of years, maybe longer. You find it all over Europe, from Prague and Munich to Strasbourg and Brussels. Imagine if we abolished the system and said, okay, no more plastic tokens. Just give me your mug, and I’ll give you your deposit.
What you would see are barbarian hordes coming from every corner of the continent, rampaging through Christmas markets, pilfering every last mug in sight, even the ones that are half-full, pushing and shoving their way to me, and demanding back a deposit – a deposit that they themselves have not paid.
Can you imagine this? In days, our civilization would collapse. We would again find ourselves in the Dark Ages, when Vikings, Huns, and Goths ravaged the lands and sacked entire cities without retribution.
Do you understand now? It may look like a tiny, cheap, mass-produced disc of unexceptional plastic to you, but to me and those from this land, it is all that stands between us and anarchy.
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