You might be in Japan if... you get a lot of little gifts from the companies you do business with.
Sure, back home, you might find the occasional freebie. Fill your tank with gas, get a free toy car. Buy a bottle of Scotch, get a free tasting glass emblazoned with the distillery's name.
That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the way almost any business will give you a pocket-size pack of tissues for almost any transaction. Send a letter at the post office? Here's your receipt and a pack of tissues. Sign up for cell phone service? Here's your phone, user manual, and two packs of tissues!
It's not always little packs of tissues, either. When we bought a sitting cushion from the futon store, they gave us a full box of tissues instead of a little packet. A taxi driver gave me what I initially thought was a packet of tissues, but turned out to be a folded garbage bag. And when a moving company came out to give me an estimate, the estimator gave me a 2kg bag of locally grown rice.
If the transaction doesn't go completely smoothly, they pull out the big guns. After I signed up for my postal savings account (yes, you can bank at the post office, but that's another story), I had to go back the next day because they'd forgotten to copy one of my documents. After they made the copy, they gave me a "we're sorry we made you come back" towel, complete with the postal savings logo.
Sure, back home, you might find the occasional freebie. Fill your tank with gas, get a free toy car. Buy a bottle of Scotch, get a free tasting glass emblazoned with the distillery's name.
That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the way almost any business will give you a pocket-size pack of tissues for almost any transaction. Send a letter at the post office? Here's your receipt and a pack of tissues. Sign up for cell phone service? Here's your phone, user manual, and two packs of tissues!
It's not always little packs of tissues, either. When we bought a sitting cushion from the futon store, they gave us a full box of tissues instead of a little packet. A taxi driver gave me what I initially thought was a packet of tissues, but turned out to be a folded garbage bag. And when a moving company came out to give me an estimate, the estimator gave me a 2kg bag of locally grown rice.
If the transaction doesn't go completely smoothly, they pull out the big guns. After I signed up for my postal savings account (yes, you can bank at the post office, but that's another story), I had to go back the next day because they'd forgotten to copy one of my documents. After they made the copy, they gave me a "we're sorry we made you come back" towel, complete with the postal savings logo.
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