Over here in Belgium we have Bolt. They're basically an Uber competitor: Taxis, scooters, bikes and in some country even food delivery. Very popular in Europe.

The other day my partner was harassed by one of their taxi drivers. I filed a complaint on Bolt, expecting nothing but boilerplate "We're sorry here's a refund on the trip".

I got, two days later, a lengthy response detailing what they would do, and asserting that if we wish to talk to the police they will help and assist in any way they can. I then, a couple of days after that (this morning) received a call from a senior at the company in Belgium, asking for more details, offering her support, and even giving me her direct cell line if "myself or my partner need to further talk about the incident".

I honestly didn't expect this from a company which, to my knowledge, has already scaled multinationally. And yet.

I work for a school in China and they are going to have an art festival soon. Today they were setting up some of those pictures where you can stick your face in it and take a photo. They did this to The Last Supper and it’s a very big picture set up right in front of the main gate for all the children to play with. They cut out Jesus’ face and most of his disciples’. All of the expats that work for my school were outraged and told the administration to take it down right away. At first the administration said they would just glue Jesus’ face back on. But this just made people angrier, so they promised to take it down in the morning when they could get some workers to do it.

So what cultural misunderstandings have you experienced? How did you deal with it?

The price tag matters at first. It costs too much for a hobby. But day after day, as you imagine what you could do with that one little piece of gear, the weight of the number wanes and is replaced with the undeniable truth that you will eventually find a way to justify the expenditure.

What's your guiltiest gear? What was your justification at the time? How often do you use it now, and was the guilt worth it in the end?