one of the things that got on my nerves while "at sea" is the push for tax and duty free shopping. what exactly is tax and duty free? isn't it EITHER tax OR duty free? isn't saying tax and duty free like saying a brown and chocolate lab? or a big and large man?
i guess i just don't get why the "tax and" or "and duty" has to be a part of the phrase. isn't it really tax free? or duty free... since duties are taxes?
ok, i'm confusing myself.
I wonder if it's because some countries use the term tax and other use the term duty?
ReplyDeleteJust a guess, I really don't know.
I had such a rotten experience with the one time I bought something on a ship "tax" free.
It was a bottle of my favorite perfume and it was a cruise with my ex husband. As we were getting on the ship, the representative said, "Once we sail, you can collect this at such and such place". He then nodded at the ex, "Or, you can send your SON to get it for you!"
Ok, I think I was 31 years old at the time and the ex was 6 months younger. Yeah, he DID look young for his age, but, I sure as hell didn't look old enough for him to be my SON!
The ex thought it was funny as hell but I was pissed off about it for a long time.
In hindsight, it could have been that the man's command of English wasn't very good and he confused "husband" and "son". Or, he was just being a jerk.