cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/1624944
(edit: from another crosspost, apparently NL shops are operating legally)
Saw a “no cash” sign at a bakery. Conversation went like this:
me: So, no cash? What’s going on there?
cashier: Yeah, we’re not allowed to accept cash.
me: Isn’t it the other way around? Isn’t there a legal tender law in #Netherlands?
cashier: Yeah, we’re not allowed to refuse cash.
me: So this sign posting says loud and clear “we are breaking the law”, in effect, no? Is that not being enforced?
cashier: That’s right. It’s unenforced in Netherlands.
The same thing is happening in #Belgium. This kind of forces me to revise my understanding of European culture & norms. In both the US & Europe there is a culture of certain laws (rightfully) going unenforced against individual natural people. E.g. small amounts of marijuana possession. But I previously thought when it came to moral/legal people (businesses), they simply complied with the law in Europe to a great extent.
IOW, companies complied with laws in Europe. Contrast that with the US where corporations small and large will blatantly disregard any laws that interfere with profit based on the calculated risk of getting caught and risk of penalties.
I just wonder if Europe is being influenced by cavalier US corps and changing to comply only when penalties are likely. Or is this something I had wrong all along… that EU companies were always loose with compliance?
#WarOnCash
update
The original post was censored without reason by @knollebol4 @nlemmy.nl. It’s now a non-existent node, perhaps rightfully so if it’s going to use an anti-spam tool against ideas.
This week I’ve been paying by cash, and I noticed a few things.
One thing is that there is a lot of people paying with cash that are doing so because they do not have another option. Some of them are simply tourists without a working card, but I suspect some of them might really have no card at all.
The other is that the people at the shop do notice when a long line of buyers stand to pay with cash. I have seen cashiers struggling to get someone to stand on the second cash register to offload some customers.
As for the ethical vendors… I struggle with this. It is just so much more convenient to go buy from the Albert Heijn that’s right under my apartment. I tried the shops around, but they rarely have what I want, products are often more expensive, and lower quality. I also don’t know how to tell whether specific small vendors are ethical vendors or not. So, for now I just go to AH for most of my purchases.