One of the local weekly free (advertising) newspapers always has a front-page article and related person-in-the-street question to induce you not to immediately throw it in the trash. And the stories are not just fluff.
They’ve reported on the increase in street crime (mostly purse snatchings), the high price of housing (the people-in-the-street were various officials and leaders; the labor leader wasn’t bashful about insulting the housing minister), even one about what should be done about the red-light district around the Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) now that it’s become a prime area for development (not just what you might have thoght, do away with it – most of the discussion was about where it should move to).
This week they reported on a phenomenon recently becoming more popular in Germany – credit cards. They say that already 5 million Germans use them (out of about 80 million) – they also mention that there are 1 billion in use in the U.S.
They asked five people if they used credit cards. (Recall that this is the banking capital of Germany.) Only one had – she got one 6 months ago before she took a trip to Australia and didn’t want to carry a lot of money. She’s hardly used it since she got back to Germany. But she is keeping it to use on her next vacation.
You may realize that this implies that one might need to carry around a substantial amount of cash, and indeed $300 to $500 was not unusual!
We found that our credit cards were accepted widely enoufh rhat we didn't have to join their ranks.
(By the way, if you wish, you can affix a notice to your mailbox that forbids the delivery of advertising matter!)