Please read it as you are talking to someone in a normal speed.
Thank you!!!
I read an entry written by an American lady who has been living in Japan.
In her journal, she talks about one of the biggest differences between America and Japan. It's about the conversations between cashiers and customers while in the checkout line at grocery stores. She gives an example of how a cashier and a customer talk in America.
It's unbelievable! It doesn't happen in Japan!
In the dialogue, the cashier asks if the customer could find everything she needed, and what kind of recipes she is using, things like that. The customer tells the cashier that her grandma is coming over for dinner, and that she wants to make lasagna. Then, the conversation becomes even more friendly.
Cashiers in Japan would never ask about customers' purchases, let alone about recipes! They keep their words to a minimum. What's happening in America? lol American customers have good patience! They can wait for their turn without complaint, right?
In Japan, if a cashier and a customer chat pleasantly, I think that the other Japanese people in line would have hard feelings against both of them.
"Hurry up! We are busy!": We might not say this out loud, but we definitely have this feeling deep down.
I don't think I'm short-tempered, but I have no patience when it comes to the situations like that if I'm in line waiting for my turn listening to people blabbering on. lol
I wonder what the difference is in the grocery stores between the two countries. I don't fully understand. Is it a difference sense of time management or value of conversation?
I like the friendly American way, but it doesn't fit in with Japan from any angle.
@
I made one small correction in the text;
'Is it a *different* sense of time management or value of conversation?'