{"id":570,"date":"2010-01-09T14:28:36","date_gmt":"2010-01-09T05:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/triplefstudio.com\/yokoso\/?p=570"},"modified":"2010-01-09T14:28:36","modified_gmt":"2010-01-09T05:28:36","slug":"500-%e5%86%86-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.triplefstudio.com\/yokoso\/2010\/01\/09\/500-%e5%86%86-please\/","title":{"rendered":"500 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 please"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"500Friday afternoon, I was returning to the office with my interpreter after a meeting. I stopped at a vending machine just outside the office to get a CC Lemon<\/a>. CC Lemon is a rather overly sweetened lemon drink that contains the vitamin C of X lemons. The size that is in the vending machine is worth 70 lemons. Wow! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of lemons. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing naturally lemon about it, just flavoring and a vitamin C equivalent. I enjoy the empty calories of the drink and have only one a day, so I rationalize it by saying the vitamin C helps keep me healthy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CC Lemon is popular with the gaijin, and in our previous vending machine, it was always selling out. The vending machine supplier figured that supersizing was a good idea, so they went from the standard 350 ml can size to the 500 ml pet bottle size. That difference to me is actually just enough to put me over the edge of being totally sick of it, but I do get an extra 20 lemons out of it. That also bumped the price up from 100 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 (yen) to 130 \u00e5\u2020\u2020. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about $1.10 and $1.40 these days.<\/p>\n

In Japan, the lowest bill available is 1000 \u00e5\u2020\u2020, and then there are 500 \u00e5\u2020\u2020, 100 \u00e5\u2020\u2020, 50 \u00e5\u2020\u2020, 10 \u00e5\u2020\u2020, and 1 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 coins. In terms of notes, I really only see 1000 \u00e5\u2020\u2020, 5000 \u00e5\u2020\u2020, and 10000 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 notes in circulation (about $11, $55, and $110).<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/p>\n

[Note: While preparing this picture I got a warning that Photoshop does not allow the printing of banknotes. How in the HECK did Photoshop know I was photographing banknotes?!?]
\n <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any coins so I was forced to use a 1000 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 note. In the interest of commerce, all vending machines have slots for bills, and some vending machines are even capable of accepting 10000 \u00e5\u2020\u2020, so it is not uncommon to put a note in the vending machine.<\/p>\n

Here’s some old school vending machines.<\/p>\n

\"Old<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And a new school vending machine, including Tommy Lee Jones and CC Lemon.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I fed my note into the \u00e8\u2021\u00aa\u00e5\u2039\u2022\u00e8\u00b2\u00a9\u00e5\u00a3\u00b2\u00e6\u00a9\u0178 (\u00e3\u0081\u02dc\u00e3\u0081\u00a9\u00e3\u0081\u2020\u00e3\u0081\u00af\u00e3\u201a\u201c\u00e3\u0081\u00b0\u00e3\u0081\u201e\u00e3\u0081\u008d, vending machine), chose my CC Lemon, and collected my change. In simple math, my change should be 870 \u00e5\u2020\u2020. Typically, that is a 500 coin, 3 100 coins, a 50 coin, and 2 10 coins. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m reminded of the Saturday Night Live mock commercial where a bank makes change<\/a>. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all they do. Unfortunately this link is unavailable outside of the US thanks to the good folks at NBC. C\u00e2\u20ac\u2122mon, this commercial is so old, make it free to the world). I extracted my \u00e5\u00be\u00a1\u00e9\u2021\u00a3\u00e3\u201a\u0160 (\u00e3\u0081\u0160\u00e3\u0081\u00a4\u00e3\u201a\u0160, change) from the change portal and found, as expected, 3 100 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 coins, a 50 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 coin, and 2 10 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 coins. Unfortunately, I was missing my 500 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 coin. I did another finger sweep. No coin. I pulled down on the lever a couple of times. No coin. At first I was ready to give it the old, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh well,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but then I thought, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wait a minute, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s over $5!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, my interpreter was by my side and said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll call the telephone number here and report it and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll refund the 500 \u00e5\u2020\u2020. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll leave them my cell number and then they can pay me and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll keep it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d We joked that she would charge my 1000 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 for the help. So she called the vending machine company and told them of the problem. They said they would be by the office on Tuesday to refund the money since Monday was a holiday. This was at about 3:00 pm.<\/p>\n

A little after 4:00 pm, my interpreter called me and told me the vending machine company was at the vending machine and had my 500 \u00e5\u2020\u2020. SAY WHAT?!? Within one hour, a person came to refund my 500 \u00e5\u2020\u2020 and actually handed me the coin and gave me an apology. I walked into the office and described what had happened and all the gaijins\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 jaws dropped to the floor. They were amazed. The Japanese in the office kept working, probably wondering why I was so boisterous and what the big deal was. Our office administrator\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comment was, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the second time this week someone didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get their 500 \u00e5\u2020\u2020.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Of course, the Americans were amazed at the customer service, my Japanese co-workers were accustomed to it, and our OA was upset by the malfunctioning of the vending machine. It was truly an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153only in Japan\u00e2\u20ac\u009d experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday afternoon, I was returning to the office with my interpreter after a meeting. I stopped at a vending machine just outside the office to get a CC Lemon. CC Lemon is a rather overly sweetened lemon drink that contains the vitamin C of X lemons. The size that is in the vending machine is … <\/p>\n

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