"Raj Feridun" <rferid@NOSPAMyahoo.co.jp> wrote in message
news:sb0dsvscg0hnb91s5ra4ln3h870g2a2ih2@4ax.com...
> 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.

Of course they smile at you. You're not only smiling at them, but you're a
gaigin with a gaigin baby in a stroller. That isn't kindness. It is
friendliness or curiosity (but only if you are lucky). Kindness is what
happens if you happen to start choking on a piece  of corn in your pizza and
a stranger performs a Heimlich manuver