Taking the weight off her tired legs the elderly woman leaned down on a chair in a restaurant and put her heavy bags with groceries behind her. To catch her breath she had to sit for a while and thought: ‘I’m treating myself to a cup of coffee with an apple slice.’

May I see your QR code madam?’ asked the waiter.

‘Excuse me, what do you say, excuse me, my hearing isn’t so good anymore young man, in those 89 years that has gone backwards.’

‘Do you have a QR code, that’s on your mobile.’

‘What is that waiter, a mobile?’

‘It is a telephone,

‘No, I don’t have my phone with me. It’s at home on the dresser, young man, I’m not going to take it with me.’

‘Do you have a paper code; you can print it out. This is acceptable.’

‘No, how should I do that?’

‘With your PC and your printer.’

‘Oh, I don’t have that, I do have a radio at home, is that good too?’ ′I am sorry but I am obliged to scan your QR code or I’ll have to send you away.’

The woman goes quiet for a while and says, ‘Will you close then?’

The waiter looks around for a while and doesn’t know what to do. He tells her that people without this code are not allowed in restaurants.

The woman is silent for a moment and says: ‘Is it war again then? This was the same during the war, with receipts, but I don’t have receipts, where can I get them, young man?’

The waiter went away for a while, counted his blessings and came back pretty quickly with a cup of coffee and an apple dot. ‘This one is from the house, ma’am. Another nice day.’