Japanese Change Trays • Hacker News Board

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#21

Post by Symbiote » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:33 PM UTC

TillE wrote: post #11

ChrisArchitect wrote: post #8

come on, this is common in EU..Germany etc, too

Where have you seen this? I've lived in Berlin for six years and I have literally never encountered anything like it.

I've seen them everywhere I've visited in Germany. An image search came up with this¹, which says they're called "Zahlteller" (counting plates).

1: http://www.schnitzelbahn.com/homepage/2010/11/25/the-evil-za... (scroll down a bit)

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#22

Post by o0-0o » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:38 PM UTC

TillE wrote: post #11

ChrisArchitect wrote: post #8

come on, this is common in EU..Germany etc, too

Where have you seen this? I've lived in Berlin for six years and I have literally never encountered anything like it.

This is a common practice that started out in Western culture. It was, and still is, considered more polite to receive your bill and put your change on a tray. Go to an extremely expensive restaurant and you'll see. Here in America, we now prefer the billfold instead of the tray for privacy reasons, but the concept is exactly the same.

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#23

Post by tomjakubowski » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:41 PM UTC

Phillipe the Original in downtown Los Angeles has used these as long as I can remember. Phillipe is an old school sandwich place (they claim to have invented the "French dip"), not a Japanese establishment. I wonder now why they're using them: I had mistakenly assumed it was some pre-WWII Western custom that they kept alive for that authentic vintage feel.

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#24

Post by kiiski » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:42 PM UTC

cornewut wrote: post #20

ChrisArchitect wrote: post #8

come on, this is common in EU..Germany etc, too

Actually I can't even imagine handing cash directly to someone - this kind of seems rude to me. It would be even worse if the note was folded. Doing this also might involve hand contact (which again might make someone uncomfortable). (I'm from Northern Europe).

In Finland we give the cash/receipts straight to the person. Nothing rude about it. I don't remember there ever being any hand contact involved in it. I guess some restaurants might use trays, but not the ones that I ever go to.

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#25

Post by derefr » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:42 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #14

Someone1234 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment only makes sense if you know what "gaijin" means, it appears to mean roughly "foreigner" (or more literally "outside person").

"alien" more correctly captures the connotation. "gaijin" is very much a derogatory word. "gaikokujin" (person from a different country) is more neutral.

"Outsider" is my favored translation. It's natural for the sentences where it gets used—"outsiders wouldn't understand [this custom]", etc.

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#26

Post by ripter » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:49 PM UTC

mml wrote: post #18

Department stores in the U.S. (At least in Minneapolis) used to ferry payment via baskets on wires from the clerk up to an accounting room where the money was counted, change made, and delivered back to the customer via the same contraption.

Interesting, do you have a source so I could learn more?

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#27

Post by FfejL » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:52 PM UTC

ingsoc79 wrote: post #2

Pro tip: if you want to review the correct pronunciation of the word "gai-jin," skip the tray and hand your cash directly to the clerk.

Can verify, have done. The clerk looked horrified and shook her head vigorously while pointing at the coin tray.

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#28

Post by azernik » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:54 PM UTC

devindotcom wrote: post #13

Is it possible that it could be related to change needing to be weighed to be determined legitimate, or simply as a way of measuring the amount? (like paying with gold dust in the Yukon or what have you) Beyond that I can see it being a result of extreme cultural stratification, as the article touches on - that it would be seen as demeaning for a higher-class person to put money directly into the lower-class person's…

Most books I've read that talk about this custom (and, despite the claims of the article that it's not talked about, in Western literature it's talked about A LOT) attribute it instead to the idea that money is "impure", and handing money directly to another person (whatever the class relation) is a bit improper.

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#29

Post by TillE » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:56 PM UTC

Symbiote wrote: post #21

TillE wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where have you seen this? I've lived in Berlin for six years and I have literally never encountered anything like it.

I've seen them everywhere I've visited in Germany. An image search came up with this¹, which says they're called "Zahlteller" (counting plates). 1: http://www.schnitzelbahn.com/homepage/2010/11/25/the-evil-za... (scroll down a bit)

Oh ok. Yes, some places put your change in a tray (which I've seen in the US too), but you still hand money directly to them. It's really not the same thing that's discussed in the article.

Re: Japanese Change Trays

#30

Post by iNate2000 » Wed, Jun 03, 2015, 6:56 PM UTC

devindotcom wrote: post #13

Is it possible that it could be related to change needing to be weighed to be determined legitimate, or simply as a way of measuring the amount? (like paying with gold dust in the Yukon or what have you) Beyond that I can see it being a result of extreme cultural stratification, as the article touches on - that it would be seen as demeaning for a higher-class person to put money directly into the lower-class person's…

The article says that during 1600-1870 most businesses operated on credit with semiannual account settlement. I'd think this would make quick-weigh gold-dust transactions pretty uncommon. :)