Bite or Fight: Trying to Buy Insect Repellant

by Kristen Evans 

“I know they’ll have what I need if only I know how to say!” I thought to myself as I entered the store in search of hand soap and bug repellant. The hand soap was easy enough to find. Scanning the shelves high and low, left to right, I searched with squinted eyes (I have no idea why we think squinting makes our eyesight better) for a bottle of bug repellant. With no luck on my own, the clerk in the store asked if I needed help. I nodded my head and greeted her a smiling buonasera all the while unsure of how I was going to explain what I needed.

I had an idea, I spoke my request in the form of an equation: bug (chimice) + spray (spruzzo). In theory it was a good idea, but I immediately realize there was a miscommunication when she handed me Raid, an in-home bug spray. I politely shook my head no and tried again, this time with gestures and words. As I reiterated the equation and them pointed to me in the sense of “for me” she eagerly nodded in agreement saying “crema” and handed me lotion.

By this time, the second clerk ascended upon the first clerk and me trying to assist. Now I had two ladies, bug spray and body cream in my hands. I stopped and studied the situation for a minute and regrouped. I quickly retreated to my English/Italian for a new word – body (corpo). Then in slow motion with my new words, bottles in hand, and a new gesture (charade of putting lotion of self) we finally all landed on insect repellant. Happy we all now understood, the second clerk smiled and said “No, no qui, farmacia”. She spent another minute writing and saying aloud antizanzara per corpo (anti-mosquito for the body.) Off to the farmacia I went and emerged with antizanzara per corpo less than two minutes later.

Not knowing the right words was obviously a barrier, even when I had a dictionary. However, in trying I was able to create a repair sequence that pulled on language (morphemes) and non-verbal (gestures) to finally get me to the right product and right place! It was my first solo encounter and for the many ways the trip could have gone wrong (imagine if I had not paid attention and left with Raid!) I managed to embrace the situation, regroup, and emerge from it feeling like I actually accomplished something! Today I have no mosquito bites and know how to ask should I need to buy again.