On the way here I noticed a couple of things that my American mind, and maybe other people as well, might have trouble comprehending. The first point is regarding at least the Netherlands and Germany, and maybe other Europe. The second is regarding the color of U-bahn buttons.
1. In the bathroom there are two buttons for flushing one of the two major functions that can occur in a toilet bowl. One is significantly larger than the other by at least 2.5 times. The other is small and usually cut out of the larger button. Which one do you press for which function? Scroll down for the answer.More to come on this topic and on other toy or Nuremberg related things...
2. Buying a metro card for the U-bahn, I was confronted with a green, zuruck (back) and a red, abfart (continue). This is the complete opposite of logic especially when considering how the colors for go and stop in driving remain the same. Maybe it means CAUTION, you might be spending money on the wrong thing. ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO CONTINUE?
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Answer: big button = no. 2, little button = no. 1.
My logical answer would be the opposite. In my opinion, logically the button that should be bigger should be the one that is used more often not the reverse. Even after a year of pushing the wrong button, I still have the inclination to push the bigger one.
Poll: in your opinion, are the buttons logical?
Poll results, ok I lose:
Logical - 8: Athena (UNC), Gemma (UNC), Mike, Jenny, Jamie, Jean, etc.
Not-logical - 2: Shauna, Ellen
The results might be skewed by the UNC people because they are used to two flush functions.
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6 comments:
i was correct that the big button is used for #2. but when i read the answer, it makes sense that the big one is the one that should be used more often.
the other one would be confusing. but i'd continue if i knew that was what the colors meant.
case 1) logical
case 2) red is the color of stop sign!! how is that supposed to mean continue?
I guess the small button is for a 'kleine boodschap' and the big one for the 'big one'
Talking about cultural differences: why did we ever start talking about no.1 and no.2 and how much confusion does that cause ???
yeah you are right, but the big button is so attractive to me.. i always want to press it.
It makes sense. The amount of water used corresponds with the size of the button. To use less water press the small one.
i think i ran into this two button flushing in taiwan once (i think in an mrt station...). i don't remember if the buttons were different sizes, but they were different colors (blue and red, don't remember which was which). more importantly, they were labeled with "大" and "小". so then it was pretty obvious what to do when. but seriously, when in doubt, just flush with the big button, you want to make sure to get the job done. ...and it's not my water anyway ;)
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