Fun with the GEZ
Rumors say that I’m a pessimist. That’s definitely not true. Surely after a hard day at work I know how to cheer me up. And of course the evilest things are the most fun. I once heard of a guy in a pub who was pretty drunk, stepped on a table, threw his backpack around and yelled “for Allah”. Uhm, yes, that was in the dark ages when everybody was on steroids about terrorists blowing up the planet. But there is a more evil thing that you can do if you are lucky to live in Germany. (And as opposed to the pub action it doesn’t even make you sleep in jail.) Germans have the GEZ (Gebühreneinzugszentrale) that is responsible for collecting charges from everybody who is watching TV. Those fees are supposed to finance TV and radio stations governed by public law. They are so avid for money that their organisation works similar to a secret service. They get their information about the people from half-legal sources. They have agents everywhere trying to trick people into paying fees. And they are even a private company (even when being commissioned to collect fees by the government). Basically everybody hates the GEZ and telling others that you work for the GEZ is the shortest route to finding a fresh brick in your car’s window every morning. Funnily they have a website where you can opt in. Do I really have to mention that there is no way to opt out? And of course they don’t verify who opted in. Imagine what happens if you accidentally opt in someone else…
(Don’t get me wrong. I think that the publicly-operated TV stations are worth their money when looking at all the junk that’s on TV. But the modus operandi of the GEZ is so weird that I hope the european parliament will quickly kill it.)