CSI Germany

Like we have CSI or Law and Order, Germany has its own crime series. It's called Tatsort (Crime scene). On Sunday night, a few friends from work and I went to a cafe to watch it, as is a tradition of theirs. We lounged on white leather couches with tea and juice watching it on a big screen TV. There is a 20 Euro per month tax on everyone who owns a TV here, so many choose not to have one. Instead, many cafes open their doors weekly for popular series.

This show had a lot of what our crime series have: dramatic music, suspense, romantic tension between two of the detectives, and of course, an unrealistic falling of the pieces of the puzzle into place just in time for the show to conclude.

The show is film length, and 45 minutes into it, we all had to guess who we thought the murderer was. Whoever guesses right has their name put in drawing for a free cocktail coupon at the cafe. Not to anyone's surprise, I guessed wrong. But the waiter screwed up and drew my name from the hat of people who guessed right. I tried to give the coupon to the rightful winner, a co-worker of mine who apparently guesses right every week, but he wouldn't have it. So now I have an excuse to go back.

Lesson learned: Maybe I made a better crime reporter than detective. At least with fake TV crime investigations.