Sequential Logic

The code to the washroom in the Der Beck Cafe in Erlangen, Germany, is the sequence of numbers 3–4–2–3. Germans habitually verbalize this as thirty-four, twenty-three. But, the literal translation from German to English is “four and thirty, three and twenty.” Under circumstances of mild duress I was not able to do the math in my head. Fortunately, I did have time to ask the woman at the counter to verify my transcription of her detailed instructions.