MFM Believes In Teaching The Right Habits Early On

[Yavin4]

[MiddleFingerMom]

1. That's not me teachin'... that's me larnin'!!!

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Though if I had had to larn on Heineken... I don't think I would have EVER "acquired" a taste for beer.
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In the barracks in Germany, there were "beer vending machines" -- just like "soda vending machines.
You had to wait 'til 4 PM to use them. The normally had 3 German beers, three American beers, and
Heineken. Heineken, being an import, was pasteurized -- as are ALL American mass-produced beers,
whether consumed here in the States or not. German beer, unless it's destined to be exported, is
NOT pasteurized (they're civilized about not letting their beers get lonely with a long shelf life).
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The three German beers would empty out first, followed by the American beers.
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The Heineken was always the very LAST to sell out... and would only sell out if it happened to be
a VERY heavy "barracks rat" drinking weekend.
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Shame... their 5-liter keg-tap cans are an incredible idea!!!
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[Yavin4]

2. How Would The Vending Machines Know When It Was 4 PM?

Was there some kind of timer?

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. A regulation -- you could use them... but if you got caught using them on a workday...

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... whether you were working or not... you could be in a world of hurt.
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Weekends were good 24/7 ('til Sunday at midnight).
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[mikeytherat]

3. When I was in Japan in the early '80s, I found the greatest thing a teenager could imagine:

Beer vending machines! Kirin, Suntory, and even Heineken. Drop in your yen and choose your poison. It was quite a wonderful summer!

mikey_the_rat

[MiddleFingerMom]

5. Long before all-night shopping was anything but a real RARITY...

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... some German gas stations has coin-operated gas pumps (they also had very common usage of
5-mark pieces -- which was the equivalent of $2).
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I can think of one Friday evening in particular when a bunch of us decided to take my roommate's
van (so much bodywork done on it that he spraypainted its name on the side -- "El Bondo&quot and go
spend the weekend in Austria skiing. We just barely had enough fumes to get to the nearest coin
station -- otherwise what turned out to be an EXCEPTIONAL weekend would never have happened.
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[Yavin4]

6. Sprechen Sie deutsch?

Ich versuche zu lernen, es selbst in diesem Sommer.

[MiddleFingerMom]

7. I lived there for almost four years on the German economy, took two college years of German there...

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... and the ex-MsMFM was a German girl, so yeah... I was pretty fluent, but it's been over 30 years since
I've spoken it, so I MIGHT still get by in a gasthaus.
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It was fun for the two of us to be able to speak "privately" in public.
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I think the majority of Germans (possibly the VAST majority) speak English. Their culture (as with most of Europe) is
far more advanced in promoting fluency in at LEAST two languages.
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Funny, I heard (from future teabaggers, no doubt) this sentiment actually verbalized. "I'm here in Germany, let them
learn ENGLISH!!!"
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These are almost certainly the same people who give immigrants a hard time about their lack of fluency in English.
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[bluesbassman]

8. Used to hear that "Why don't they learn English" bit all the time on post.

Then they would complain that they never enjoyed themselves out in the economy. Funny thing was, if you just learned a little Duetche, and at least tried to speak it, most Germans would bend over backwards to accomodate you.

[MiddleFingerMom]

9. I almost became one of the "barracks rats". When I first got there, I was living in the barracks...

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... and had bought an apartment-sized fridge. Usually had just a little lunch meat, cheese and olives and the like.
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I let my roommates keep their beer in there (although, after my first day WHOO-BOY!!!, I decided not to drink any
more until I was "settled in" in so many ways). But with so much beer in there, the stoners told each other I was
a stone-cold "juicer" and not to be trusted... and the drinkers told each other I obviously had a "problem" -- so no
one would hang out with me.
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The other medics came to my rescue and took me downtown -- and I was LOVING IT from day one.
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I found the same... in almost ANY country, we still have such an "Ugly American" reputation, that if you know just
a little bit of the local language, people would bend over backwards for you.
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[Kali]

10. mid 70s for me

EVERYTHING was a vending machine, even the hair driers in the bathroom

you could buy underwear and washcloths in the hall along with hot soup and cold beer, even whiskey

[MiddleFingerMom]

11. Absolute BESTEST thing about German culture in the 70's (MAYBE still)...

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... is that instead of the MILKman (dunno if they HAD MILKmen), they had beer/sodamen who would
deliver a case or ten of either or each -- even a half-case o' beer/half-case o' soda to your door and
bill you on a monthly (semi-monthly?) basis.
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Never heard of people getting their deliveries ripped off either.
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Not to mention all that healthy-attitude sex goin' on. I'm so glad I "grew up" in Germany. I was a pretty
normal American teen sexually (meaning a repressed and guilty and judgmental and all-around fucked-up
young man before they got ahold of me and my libido and attitudes).
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Beer delivery?
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Healthy, EXUBERANT sexual attitudes and practices?
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I really ALMOST got out and stayed over there if MiddleFingerMomDad hadn't been so (terminally, we
thought) ill at the time.
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