Schwarzfahrer

Germany is not exactly ethnically diverse; according to Wikipedia, 91.5% of Germans are ethnically German. The next biggest ethnic group, Turks, accounts for just 2.1% of the population. Of course, just because a country is not ethnically diverse does not automatically mean it has a racial problem, any more than an ethnically diverse country is automatically a haven of peace and multicultural understanding. But, well...

Germans are especially sensitive to accusations of racism, partly, I think, because the unspoken follow-up to such an accusation is "and remember what happened the last time you were racists?" There's a strange, wishful perception that World War II took care of racism in Germany once and for all. It's a huge blind spot and I've often been surprised at the uncensored comments from people who would in no way consider themselves racist but who say (and apparently think) some astonishingly racist things.

So that's an introduction to this Oscar-winning (oooooo, ahhhhh) German short film called Schwarzfahrer. The literal translation of Schwarzfahrer is "black rider" and it's the term used for someone using public transportation without a ticket. In the film, it's also a visual pun! But watch it and then I won't have to explain it.

If that didn't make you want to slap that old woman, I don't know what would. Make you want to slap an old woman, that is. Anyway, she got her comeuppance and I got an excuse to use the word 'comeuppance'. Everybody wins!