Raj Feridun wrote:

> I've started conducting an experiment here. Thanks to all this talk of
> unkindness every single time I confront anyone Japanese anymore I'm
> always thinking about whether they're kind or not. So now I look
> people square in the eyes that I pass and although it's still very
> early in the trials something VERY strange is occurring. I take my 13
> month old daughter for a nice 30 minute stroll in her baby carriage
> every day and so far in the past 2 days I've passed 7 people of
> varying ages, all adults. Every single person that I made eye contact
> with so far has smiled and issued a greeting.
>
> I realize its WAY too early to draw any conclusions here and also
> there's that X factor that I'm a gaigin PLUS the cute little moptop
> baby girl in the carriage I'm pushing. Still, it's encouraging. I will
> report in with further results as the trials continue.
>
> Maybe it was me all along. The only thing I'm doing differently is
> looking right at these folks. The first man who was in his 60s I had
> to fight the urge to grab by the shoulders and shake and say "MY GOD
> MAN YOU'RE JAPANESE STOP ACTING KIND!!". That quickly passed though
> thank goodness.
>
> Raj

The almost unanimous reaction from any age group is my kids are cute, too.

Try wearing scruffy clothes and laying on a piece of cardboard in the middle
of town, or asking strangers for loose change claiming you haven't had food
for days.