The Language Tax

In the almost 11 years I’ve spent overseas, I've noticed a phenomenon that I haven't seen addressed anywhere else. For lack of a better term - I call it "The Language Tax".

The language tax is when you pay more for something because you don't know how to get the better deal because: You don’t speak the language!

As much as I'd like to think I'm cheap enough to always find the better deal, I know that I pay too much for some things, and I just don't know how to fix it.

It almost happened to me again at the mall a couple of weeks ago. My wife was buying matching clothes for this year’s family Christmas photo (I think I was pressed against the glass front of the store with a please-save-me look), and we racked up a fairly big bill. The lady behind the counter asked if we had a discount card to the store (all in Polish), and I answered no. No is one of the few words I do know in Polish. The nice lady then asked us if we wanted to be part of the discount club and I assumed that there was a charge... Luckily while she was checking us out, I looked up and was able to ask if there was a charge or not. She said no so I said “Sure - I'll take one of those cards.” End result: 2 minutes later I saved 25% off new clothes for six people.

This also happens with most of us who don't bother to get the Skarbonka Card at Auchan and the equivalent card at Real. I know that I can save money (although admittedly I have no idea how it actually works) but I just don’t have the motivation to ask and try to fill out the little card they have.

I mean, if you don't read the language, and you don't find someone who speaks English, it's easy to just mentally calculate the anticipated cost of the purchase, get your faktura and get the heck out of there.

The negative thing here is that I have no idea how you solve this. I had to ask someone else to figure out the Skarbonka thing. 5-a-sec has a frequent shopper's card that I never bought because it supposedly saves you money – but not on everything… I’m pretty sure I’d save the money over a year, but I can’t ask the questions I want to – ‘cause I don’t speak the language.

But my biggest problem is the lack of the good old boy's hardware store. Back in Texas, if I wanted to take on a household project, I'd go down to the hardware store (Preferably Andy’s Hardware off of FM 249) with a list, and find the first knowledgeable person I could and start peppering them with questions. By the time I left the store I knew that I could go home and figure out at least how to get started on whatever it is I was working on. Here I don't have that luxury - so instead of buying the parts needed to fix the hose - I'm pretty likely to just buy a new hose.

The other thing is finding the bargains. In the states I'd check out the newspaper ads or check out the internet ads and head out to the store – Here, I’m sure I could do the same but I don’t have a newspaper subscription, and I have no idea what the Polish equivalent of BensBargains.net is.

Again, this is the by-product of a stranger living in a strange land. It's not something that I'm going to fix unless I really learn the language.