Posted on behalf of DanG

It has been while since I have felt the urge to tell a story, but I had
a 'German' moment today, and I thought I would relate it.

I moved about six months ago, and during the move lost the card from the
video store where I rent videos or DVDs. My VCR stopped working at about
the same time, so I really hadn't missed not getting videos, but when
the card magically reappeared, I thought I would go down and change the
address. I had done the same thing two years ago the last time I moved,
and it was a simple process: I told them the address, they typed in the
change, and that was it.

So I set off around midday, heading for the Grueneburgweg so I could get
some lunch at the Snackpoint, well known as the best Imbiss in
Frankfurt. (I had the brat currywurst and the pommes nackish.) Having
fortified myself, I headed down the Bremer Strasse to Tomin, one of a
chain of video stores around Frankfurt. As I had two years before, I said I
wanted to change my address since I had moved. The guy behind the
counter (whom I have never liked -- maybe it shows) asked for my
Ausweis. Well, I hadn't brought my Ausweis -- it's only a video shop,
for goodness' sake! He said he couldn't just type in the address change;
I would have to send a Meldung to the central office with proof of the
address change. It was only after more than five minutes that he agreed
to change it on their local computer. (Why they have gone
technologically backward so that they can't update the central computer
from their local terminal is beyond me -- must be that German IT
qualifications is too 'main frame' and not enough 'peer-to-peer'.)

Anyway, I headed home via the post office, which is still selling the
old 110 pfg stamps of the Stone Bridge in Regensburg.

Regards
DanG

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