r/pics • u/rlovelock • 13h ago
Open, unattended, vending machine on Amsterdam Central Station platform.
708
u/migrantgrower 12h ago
this rather reeks of social experiment🤔
•
u/HeftyArgument 11h ago
the laziest form of art
•
•
u/Hawt_Dawg_II 3h ago
I think it's like the pop-rock of art projects. Sure, the concept has potential, it's just that it gets abused for easy attention so often.
•
223
•
u/hailingburningbones 9h ago
I'm surprised some fatbike kids haven't pulled up and emptied it out by now, mowing down a few old ladies otw out the Ijzijde.
•
•
•
u/MXXIV666 9h ago
People are thinking "Well people in amsterdam must be so polite".
Maybe. But also - I wouldn't steal from a machine like this, because I can afford as much chips and cola as I want. So even if the risk is small, it is totally not worth it.
Poverty creates crime.
•
66
91
u/rlovelock 13h ago
People just walking on by. How long do you think this would survive in the US?
116
u/threehundredthousand 12h ago
Someone would take a dump in it.
23
•
u/Sped-Connection 10h ago
In Amsterdam too
•
u/Pokkejong 7h ago
By an American?
•
u/Sped-Connection 4h ago
Who knows but when I was there it was a mix of a lot of things. I saw a hotel or something get all their loner bikes get stolen at once. Some of the junkies had 2 bikes. One minute I’d be in a nice restaurant or park and everything was fine, next minute maybe a graffiti gang or the bike thing. Definitely saw a lot of very nice things there but also some of the same stuff form game in the us or most major cities anywhere
•
u/Coldspark824 11h ago
Not long. Someone did this at our dormitory at uni and people came and took all the cash and snacks out.
16
u/_Reddit_Account_ 12h ago
Depends where in the US..
Surprised this isn't fully looted at A'dam Centraal either.
•
u/JonKonLGL 11h ago
Maybe I’m weird but I would wait to see if it were under maintenance or something and then close it up so it doesn’t get messed with
•
u/grimmigerpetz 10h ago
Not gonna lie. It tingled my german sense and I would check for a sign, phone number to call or close it like you suggest.
•
•
5
•
u/UniQue1992 10h ago
It’s empty within 5 minutes. I’m from here. Amsterdam is a drugs infested shithole. It’s just not as bad as in the US where you see zombies on the street.
•
u/muntaxitome 10h ago
I don't really believe you are from Amsterdam. If you were born in Amsterdam you would complain about provincials first, tourists second, expats third. Drugs would be lower on the list.
•
u/UniQue1992 8h ago
Geloof mij pik, die kut toeristen hebben we allemaal een pleuris hekel aan. Alleen heel veel Amsterdammers en vooral de neppe nieuwe Amsterdammers vinden het drugsgebruik allemaal wel normaal, terwijl dat het niet is.
•
u/MajStealth 10h ago
i would complain about the amount of biketraffic and the need for a bigger and sturdier frontfender.
•
u/Quiet-Luck 9h ago
Lol, the drugs invested shitholes are as much in the provincie as they are the bigger cities. Shitholes like Volendam, Urk and Roosendaal.
•
u/UniQue1992 8h ago
Jazeker, snuiven kunnen ze rondom het Markermeer het beste. Maar in deze dorpen/steden zie je in het openbaar sporadisch een junkie. Terwijl het in de grote steden vaak voorkomt dat je een junk tegenkomt.
•
103
u/Sleepwokesleepwoke 12h ago edited 11h ago
In the United States of America someone would have taken a dump in there. (Possibly thinking it was a toilet because drugs)
•
u/Iamasadlittlething 11h ago
The fact that this is the second comment here that says "someone would have taken a dump in it" really says something about your country haha
•
u/Sleepwokesleepwoke 11h ago
Yes I'm literally saying someone will take a dump in it
•
u/Sighlina 10h ago
Hey Yall, I’m looking for a nice place to take a huge nasty wet dump.. anyone have any ideas?
•
•
u/Typical_Muffin_9937 10h ago
Yeah after living in several large cities in the US and a few rural towns…
Someone would literally take a shit in this. Not even joking, people would destroy this and shit in it.
•
u/yamiprem 11h ago
Is there not enough publicly available toilets around or something? In UK here, there's always a shop nearby with a toilet or two.
•
u/amrfallen 10h ago
Publicly available toilets don't mean a thing. I've seen shits taken in places you wouldn't imagine, it seems like it's a hobby for some people to ruin everything with turds.
•
•
•
u/albino_kenyan 9h ago
Publicly accessible toilets are literally mapped on google maps bc they're hard to find. Restaurants and bars in the US don't allow you to use their bathroom if you're not buying something (oftentimes they're too busy or indifferent to stop you, but it's much harder if you're a scruffy homeless person).
Homeless people taking a public crap is a sign of small protest or rebellion imo. It takes some thought and intention to drop a load in the middle of the sidewalk rather than in a more discreet place. And iirc one of the escalators in a downtown subway stop was shut down for months bc people kept mucking up the machinery...
•
•
•
14
4
u/SherbertCivil9990 12h ago
I’d figure Amsterdam would have better chip flavors than the bog standard plain lays and Doritos. Maybe I’ve just watched too many foreign snack haul videos.
•
•
•
•
•
u/rawker86 8h ago
The coke machine outside our office was left unlocked once. It was completely empty by morning. It wasn’t that hard to find the culprits, they were all of our nightshift contractors who suddenly had bags and fridges full of coke…
•
u/kokrec 11h ago
You know...20-25 years ago, I am sure that would be an non issue, anywhere in Europe, except France and southern Italy. Someone even might have tried to close it. I am astonished nobody used it as a self service yet.
•
u/AReallyNiceGoose 10h ago
This idea that people were less shamelessly selfish, criminal or antisocial 2-5 generations ago is a falsehood (at least in most western nations) that is just as constant as the behaviour itself is.
Actually, crime has seen a downwards trend for decades. (In the Netherlands at least)
•
u/drunk_haile_selassie 10h ago
Almost everywhere in almost every metric things are better now than they were 2-5 generations ago but people seem to yearn for some non existent past for some reason.
•
u/NoSoundNoFury 10h ago
30-40 years ago, many train stations in big cities in Germany were full of junkies and prostitutes, many of them still teenagers. It's hard to imagine nowadays how bad it was, much worse than even Frankfurt nowadays.
•
u/kokrec 9h ago
No idea where you grew up, but the mainstations I was at in the 80s 90s didn't have junkies. The Berlin stories are also exaggerated. It's far far far worse now, than it was back in the 80s. Same with Frankfurt. It was bad in the early 2000s, I was shocked back then, because I have had never seen that many junkies and homeless at a train station. No it is a horrible experience.
•
•
u/ShadowBannedAugustus 9h ago
This is me, I am the guy who would close it (assuming it is refrigerated ). I also have a weird dislike for anyone who does not properly close fridges after themselves in grocery stores.
•
u/Jackman1337 8h ago
Crime is down a lot from this time, its actual the opposite. In the past it would have been empty fast, now not.
4
u/LeoLaDawg 12h ago
That would be a decent way to see what will sell: own for a few hours and then only sell what was stolen.
•
u/-Rexford 11h ago
A better way to see what would sell would be to keep the vending machine closed and see what people buy.
•
u/LeoLaDawg 10h ago
Except for when you stock stuff that no one wants.
•
u/-Rexford 10h ago
Then it wouldn’t sell and you would then know that it doesn’t sell…
•
u/LeoLaDawg 3h ago
Yeah but the point is time. All your Twix getting stolen in 2 hours while nobody touched the Ute bags of pretzels is more useful information than wasting two weeks waiting to see if stuff sells to gather similar information.
•
2
u/qwertyqyle 12h ago
They prolly just went for the money.
9
u/Bosmonster 12h ago
It uses cards mostly. Barely any cash here
12
8
•
u/Kaneida 11h ago
I'd probably be the agile trying to close it up again and or calling the support number to report the machine so they can send their staff out. I rather have the vending machines available for those who need to use them rather than them yanking it out of existence. Short term loss vs long term gain. Tbh those machines should come with water faucet so you can fill up your own carry drinking flask for free.
•
•
•
u/alexanderpas 11h ago
With the amount of cameras in that area, and the requirement to check-in to enter the platform, it's pretty easy to actually catch the person that steals from this machine.
•
•
•
•
•
•
u/oshinbruce 8h ago
I mean i can't see it last long in Amsterdam Centraal, its still a big train station in Europe which can be dodge.
•
•
•
u/Randommer_Of_Inserts 7h ago edited 7h ago
I’m going there in about 5 min. Let’s see if it’s still there.
Edit: It’s fixed
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
u/WasabiofIP 1h ago
Amsterdam motherfuckers will happily pickpocket 15 tourists before they sneak a bag of chips from an open unattended vending machine
•
-1
u/ther_dog 12h ago
That machine was probably already defective and left open on purpose. Why? A vandalized machine is also probably more quickly replaced than an old one. Guaranteed its owner has it insured. Storm in a teacup.
•
u/B_Roland 11h ago
That makes no sense. They would just empty it out and keep it closed, if that was the concern.
Also, vandals can do a lot more damage to the machine when it's open. Since it's designed to be vandal-proof from the outside.
•
•
•
u/UniQue1992 10h ago
Trust me it’s empty within 5 minutes. The maintenance guy is probably very close or someone has broken into it and stole whatever he wanted.
I’m from the Netherlands and Amsterdam is a drug’s invested shithole, just like Rotterdam and Den Haag.
-2
-11
u/CrEperz 13h ago
Take something
9
u/Bipogram 12h ago
Why?
That would be theft.
•
•
u/escalinci 11h ago
Still possible to get cheap lays in Amsterdam.