【往期回顾】
【本期内容】
Torn Money: The Banknote Versus the Joker
残币：钞票与百搭纸牌
A fair rule about torn banknotes is that if you have more than half of the note, then it’s valid, but less than half isn’t. In Mexico, merchants of all kinds tend to reject banknotes that have any part missing, and many will refuse to receive bills that are torn in any way, taped together, or even scribbled on.
关于撕碎的钞票，一条公平的规则是，如果钞票有一半以上完好，那么它是有用的，但不到一半就没用了。在墨西哥，各种各样的商人都倾向于拒绝接收有任何损残的钞票，许多人会拒绝接收以任何方式撕下、粘在一起或上面有乱涂乱画的钞票。
That doesn’t mean that damaged notes become worthless. The central bank will take them back and replace them, and any retail bank will exchange them.
这并不意味着损坏的纸币变得毫无价值。央行将收回并更换它们，任何零售银行都将进行兑换。
But for one reason or another - possibly a history of doing hand-to-hand combat with the bureaucracy - people in Mexico would rather avoid having to go through any of that.
但出于这样或那样的原因——可能是与官僚机构博弈的历史有关——墨西哥人民宁愿避免经历这些。
As a result, a damaged banknote becomes like the joker in the card game where the object is to avoid taking the joker from another player, and if you do get it, surreptitiously hand it off to another. The loser is the one who’s left with the joker when all the pairs have been removed from play.
因此，一张损坏的钞票就像纸牌游戏中的百搭，目的是避免从另一个玩家那里拿走百搭，如果你真的拿到了，就偷偷地把它交给另一个。当所有对子都出尽时，剩下持有百搭的人就是本局的输方。
There are a number of tricks for this when the joker is a banknote. One is to fold the torn corner over and hand in the note - nonchalantly, of course - with the good side up. This doesn’t work at supermarkets where cashiers will often hold bills up to the light to check for watermarks.
如果不是纸牌中的百搭，而是一张钞票时，就有很多解决窍门。一种是把撕损的一角折叠起来，递给对方——当然要漫不经心地递给对方——好的一面朝上。这个办法在超市里不起作用，因为收银员经常把钞票举到灯前检查水印。
Another way is to pack it in with several bills, all handed in together, but this only works for relatively large purchases or small bills. Another is to use the torn note to pay for something you have already consumed - food, or a taxi ride - arguing that it’s all the money you have.
另一种方法是把它装在几张钞票里，一起给对方，但这只适用于相对大额的买卖或小额面值的钞票。另一种是用撕损的钞票来支付你已经消费过的东西——食物或出租车——辩称你只有这么多钱了。
And all this to avoid dealing with the bank.
所有这些都是为了避免与银行打交道。
The fussiest of all in receiving bills in poor condition are the cashiers staffing the top-up kiosks Mexico City’s Metro. They will refuse banknotes even if they just look a bit shabby. No one has more change than the Metro ticket office cashiers, and yet they will often either refuse large bills, or pay out the change in the most deliberately annoying combination of small coins, sliding them into the gully under the window where they are difficult to collect, particularly if there’s an impatient line of people behind you. So if you’re playing joker with a torn banknote, don’t even think about the Metro.
在收到完好状况不好的钞票时，最挑剔的当属墨西哥城地铁充值亭的收银员。他们会拒绝纸币，即使它们只是看起来有点破旧。没有人比地铁售票处的收银员有更多的零钱，但他们通常要么拒绝大额面值钞票，要么用最令人讨厌的各种硬币来找零，把它们丟到窗台下的缝隙里，硬币掉进去很难捡上来，尤其是当你身后有一排不耐烦的人在等着时。所以，如果你拿着一张撕损的钞票开玩笑的话，想也别想去地铁站里了。
【Source】www.mexperience.com
【Translated by】Spark Liao (廖怀宝)
【Illustration】From Bing
联系客服
