mukade@gaijin.co.jp (mukade) wrote in message news:<3279311b.0306011656.22172b8@posting.google.com>...
> Michael Cash <mikecash@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote in message news:<t9lidv4fruecpbl1rmthh7ucpal9outdbq@4ax.com>...
> > On 31 May 2003 15:10:29 -0700, worthj1970@yahoo.com (John W.) gasped
> > and wheezed:
> > 
> > >"Nick Rees" <Nick@rees101.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message news:<bb7ebk$n2o$1@news7.svr.pol.co.uk>...
> > >
> > >> that will be a rude awakening to the
> > >> excellent service culture that exist in Japan.
> > >
> > >Ever live in Japan? Just that your comment seems to indicate 'no'.
> > 
> > No, Japan has an excellent service culture. It's true; I read it in a
> > book one time.
> > 
>  
> You have to admit,they are polite.
> 
I wonder if it counts as politeness when, for the most part, it's not
sincere. To me good service would be asking for a refill on my water
and getting it without much question; I will always remember doing
this in a small coffee shop in Umeda (one of those trendy places with
pretty cakes and half-filled glasses) and the waitress looked at me as
though I had asked her to calculate the distance to the sun in inches.
She eventually went to her manager, who tilted his head and eventually
said no.

John W.