Rude at 9:30, Polite at 10:00

A department store is located a few minute's walk from home.

Inside the two-building complex, and on the surrounding block, there are upscale stores and boutiques - Tiffany, Ralph Lauren, Armani, Chanel - and more.

A narrow street divides the department store buildings.

That street also happens to be the quickest route to the train station for the people in the neighborhood.

So when we locals walk to the station in the morning, there's a flood of people coming from the station and funneling between the buildings to go to work at all the stores.




Those employees are in a hurry, and will mow people down if they don't get out of the way.  I sometimes just step aside on the edge of the sidewalk, and let the people pass. It's like a 200-car freight train.


CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

But upon entering the department store at opening time - 10:00 a.m.  - and walking past the boutiques, all those very same rude street people will be standing at their store doors, greeting shoppers with a smile, an "Ohaiyo gozaimasu"* and a polite bow. No matter that a few minutes ago the same sales clerk may have plowed into the very same customer outside.

The sales clerks will be courteous and polite until closing time, when the system is reversed. As all the local people are returning home from work at 9:30 p.m., and trudging down that street, all those harried sales clerks are now going towards the station.



Considering this Paradox of the Mean Tenin** I detailed the situation in an email to the management of the shopping center complex.

The reply:

...We sincerely apologize for not having recognized the situation you indicated until now. We do think there are many areas of customer satisfaction we can improve in and out of the shopping center. We shall take this opportunity to instruct all the staff of the center that we must maintain appropriate manners in every respect in our community.

This complaint - from a foreigner - likely carried great importance. So maybe an announcement was made one morning on the P-A system. Or a notice delivered to each store.

Do the people seem more polite on the street?

Well, as the Japanese proverb goes:



Only time will tell.


*  oh high oh go zah ee mahs = "good morning"
* * tenin = ten een = "sales clerk"


Photos - Department Stores in Japan
Customer service at the front door
Morning bow
Food floor: (1)  (2)  (3)  (4)
Cosmetics Department