Have you experienced hyper-inflation?

[Jamie (K)]

There is an interesting German novel, called The Black Obelisk by Erich Maria Remarque, that tells about life in Germany during hyper-inflation before World War II. It shows lots of situations that are very surprising to a North American or a West European who was born in the time after the war.

In one situation, two men are screaming at their company's salesman because he won't stop selling things for money. This money loses half its value by the time the customer pays, and the company takes a loss. However, the salesman refuses to stop, because he is proud of his professional skills.

In another one, a man needed a tie, but he had to go out and buy it before lunch time, because in a few hours, his week's salary wouldn't be enough to pay for the tie.

In still another situation, some men really dislike a certain restaurant owner -- plus, they want to save money -- so they buy up a lot of the coupon booklets that the restauranteur sold before the inflation started. After a few weeks, the restaurant begins losing money on their meals, and after a few months, just one of these coupons destroys the man's income for the whole day. The restaurant owner tried telling the men that he would no longer accept the coupons, so the next day they invited their lawyer to lunch, and the owner had to continue honoring the coupons.

Have you ever lived in hyper-inflation, and do you have any stories to tell about it?