Lost 'n Found
Sometimes, Japanese people seem to be spaced out and unaware. When walking around, many seem to have no sense that there are other people in the world. I have seen people step off of elevators or escalators and then just stand there, apparently oblivious that other people need to get off right behind them. Some will step onto a train and stop just inside the door rather then move in, even though they know others are following right behind. They will be walking in a crowded area and then just stop suddenly and seem surprised and irritated that someone behind them bumped into them.
For some reason though, when it comes to tasks, they are meticulously attentive to details. This is why the streets are clean and customer service is usually very high.
My bicycle key is very small (about the size of an American Quarter), and I usually just stick it in my pocket once I've locked my bike for the day. Yesterday, I reached for it to discover that it had gone missing. I looked everywhere in that area, but I knew full well that I had ridden the train between when I put it in my pocket and when I looked for it later on.
Today, I went to the train station near my work and asked about it at the service area in the best Japanese I could muster. To my surprise, they whipped out a giant binder full of listings for each day of the last month. Each page listed every earring, scrap of paper, or button that had been left on any of the trains or in any of the stations, what time they are found, and where they can now be located. They actually print out this document every day and publish it in every station within a 50-mile radius!
They asked me the approximate time it went missing, where I was I heading, and did it have any identifying characteristics. It turns out that my tiny key (with no key chain) was found on the train I took to work, as it continued on to Osaka. I'm picking up my key tomorrow evening.
I tend to pay attention to details, and even I thought that binder was a little OCD for my taste. That being said, I'm grateful someone is paying attention out there!
For some reason though, when it comes to tasks, they are meticulously attentive to details. This is why the streets are clean and customer service is usually very high.
My bicycle key is very small (about the size of an American Quarter), and I usually just stick it in my pocket once I've locked my bike for the day. Yesterday, I reached for it to discover that it had gone missing. I looked everywhere in that area, but I knew full well that I had ridden the train between when I put it in my pocket and when I looked for it later on.
Today, I went to the train station near my work and asked about it at the service area in the best Japanese I could muster. To my surprise, they whipped out a giant binder full of listings for each day of the last month. Each page listed every earring, scrap of paper, or button that had been left on any of the trains or in any of the stations, what time they are found, and where they can now be located. They actually print out this document every day and publish it in every station within a 50-mile radius!
They asked me the approximate time it went missing, where I was I heading, and did it have any identifying characteristics. It turns out that my tiny key (with no key chain) was found on the train I took to work, as it continued on to Osaka. I'm picking up my key tomorrow evening.
I tend to pay attention to details, and even I thought that binder was a little OCD for my taste. That being said, I'm grateful someone is paying attention out there!
posted by Spencer Douglas at
9:06 PM
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