Like a common criminal

Just got back from lunch...went to an Italian place in the mall near my work. Its the sort of Italian place that seems to want to have fresh amazing food, and describes it as such, but can't pull it off. But that's beside the point.

I have been to this place once before, and was so appalled by the drink prices (a coke costs the same as a large bowl of soup!) that I went without, choosing to wait until I got back to work.

This time, I had my "stravenky" with me. Stravenky are sort of like food ration coupons from the Great Depression, coupons that you can use towards the purchase of food from establishments that accept them as payment. However, nowadays, in the Czech Republic, they are used as an employee benefit! This is my first Czech job where stravenky was a part of the remuneration package, and I am quite happy to have them. I was always a bit jealous of Czech friends that waved them around when paying at a restaurant or something when I had to use my hard earned cash!

So when I was deciding what I was going to do for lunch, I double-checked for my wallet so that I might take out some money for the evening's events while I was out. It wasn't in my back pocket. I wasn't worried because the only other place it could be is home. And as far as lunch goes, I have my stravenky, and 100 or so crowns in my pocket. I will be fine!

So I sat down at the Italian joint and decided on a pizza for 120kc. And although I was still appalled by the price of drinks there, I ordered a soft drink. Bitter Lemon, which I tried to say in Czech to the waiter, but he didn't understand until he saw it in the menu and said, " aha...Bitter Lemon!" I won't go into detail on the meal but, needless to say, I was not impressed at all by the pizza with crust obviously bought in the Tesco freezer aisle, and such a heaping (*sarcasm) amount of mozzarella cheese, that I am not even sure if it would fall off a Ritz cracker.

This, and the realization that I probably wouldn't go back there after this meal, is one of the positive aspects of the next 5 minutes. The negative aspect is that when I was getting ready to pay, I looked at the stravenky coupon, and it had written on it "0 Kc" or "no value" on it. Oh shit! I am looking at a 160 Kc bill and have 135 or so Kc, no wallet, and a stravenky coupon that says ZERO!

Now imagine yourself in this situation at home in your native country speaking your native language. Not a very nice situation to be in. You are embarrassed, and you are expecting someone to be at least a bit pissed at you. If I was in the situation, I would probably walk up to them and say "Hey, I am in a real spot here. I am going to give you what I have, run home, be back in 15, and I will give you the rest." That is what I would do in Calgary.

However, the following issues prevented me from doing this:

1. I am not in Calgary.
2. I am not in my native country.
3. I cannot speak my native language with them.

I am in Prague, Czech Republic, where I don't have a good handle on the language, where the "service provider" in a business is very easily enticed into yelling and insulting customers, where this practise is not only tolerated, but, as my wife pointed out to me last night when explaining her own experience the day before, it is actually supported by other Czechs as "the norm" which has to be accepted. I was in a situation nobody wants to be in even with the nicest person...and embarrassing situation where you have to look like a criminal or make someone trust or forgive you in a foreign language.

Well I don't know if you would stick around to see how things played out, but it only took me about 2 seconds to decide if I was going to! I dropped my 130 and some crowns on the table and took off! Although my getaway could have been very direct and easy, my guilt made me "duck behind corners" and such...but I did make it out OK. (I know you were worried!) However, knowing what I DO know about Czechs, I would not have been surprised (in fact I was scared shitless that it would happen) if the waiter had run after me down the mall walkway screaming at me to stop! Nor would I have been surprised if he had run down the escalator after me.

That is the first time I have ever d&d'd. And if that was the same situation in Canada, I never would have. Its just another example (in a long list) of things that I simply wouldn't do, if I was in a comfortable environment. Such is the life of an expat.