When trying to explain taxes and calculating percentages I gave an example of a misting fan costing $159.98 with a sales tax of 8%. Before we could proceed to solving the problem someone asked me what a misting fan was. As I was giving a description he cut me off and said he believed it was a typo and should have said missing fan instead. I asked him what a missing fan was. He explained it as such: "It means that you had a fan but it's missing because I took it. Now if you want to get your fan back you will have to pay me $159.98."
"My parents, brother, and I left Iran in 1980, shortly after the revolution. After a brief stay in Italy, we packed all our belongings once again and headed west to the exotic and the unknown: Vancouver. We had recently been accepted as landed immigrants, meaning Canada graciously opened its doors and we gratefully accepted; we arrived at Vancouver International Airport on my 10th birthday, three suitcases and one sewing machine in tow. After respectful but intense questioning at immigration, we were dropped off at a hotel on Robson Street, which was then still a couple years shy of becoming the fashionable tourist hub it is today. We were jetlagged, culture shocked, and hungry, so that first night, my father and brother courageously ventured out into the wild in search of provisions. I fell asleep before they returned. The next morning, I woke up at 5 a.m. and ravenously feasted on a cold Quarter Pounder with cheese and limp French fries that had been left by my beds...

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