necoandjeff wrote:

> > Be gentle. He's not the kind of lawyer who makes arguments in court or
> > crossexamines people.
>
> Nor do I need to be to understand that when you use the word "Japanese" when
> describing a particular trait, habit, way of thinking, etc. it is implicit
> that you believe the trait applies more strongly to Japanese than to people
> in general.

You will kindly recall I deliberately used the term "many" Japanese as opposed
to "all" or in general.

I did not say a "it won't happen to me" attitude was unique to Japanese or that
they have a "monopoly" on it. But I will certainly talk about the US or
Americans, because I am one, and I will talk about Japan or Japanese, because I
am here.

If you were to generalize, would you claim that Japanese and "people in
general" are the same?

I don't know about people of the globe in general, but when 70% of Japanese in
survey reply they do not lock the doors and windows *even when they go out*,
despite the fact they may have significant amounts of cash and other valuables
in easy reach such as in the Buddhist altar and bedroom dresser which TV crews
have repeatedly demonstrated can be had within five minutes, even with a locked
door and the family present (enter through the bathroom window - usually open,
or use a cordless screwdriver to remove an ornamental window grille, or use a
utility knife to preforate and break through glass jalousies), this does indeed
suggest more of a "shit happens - to other people" attitude than in the US, as
does the fact Japanese are more likely to use cash, or keep or carry a
significant amount of it. Just last week when I finally broke down and bought a
DVD HD recorder, one of the cheapest models, the local electronics store, part
of a large chain covering the western half of Japan, they had to call VISA to
approve the charge on my gold card in good standing. I still remember the times
over the years I have had been asked to use cash or take out a store loan,
rather than use my credit card. I even put down five months rent and bought a
motorcycle and car with cash, because that is how the businesses preferred it.
Even the down payment on a house would probably have been in cash.

Is that how you do business in your country?

--
 "I'm on top of the world right now, because everyone's going to know that I
can shove more than three burgers in my mouth!"