Yesterday the lady I was buying fruit from at the market smiled at me. Not just a thin lip smile, but a wide, toothy, white (no gold teeth!), friendly smile. Actually, first she greeted me, then smiled, but I was too busy telling her what I wanted that I kind of missed that part. My manners with strangers have changed a bit since being here - I’ve gotten used to stepping up to the counter without hesitation or pause and saying what I want. Don’t be polite and wait around, don’t waste time with greetings or smiles, it won’t get you anywhere. If I don’t state my purpose, the man behind me will step in front and ask for his dried fish and beer, or the woman behind the counter will keep doing her crossword puzzle, examining her nails, or chatting with her fellow vendor. Or maybe she’ll just stare blankly at you. Customer service is not a big deal here, so when you experience it, it makes your day. And you remember it. Dave and I were once looking for a computer microphone and a random helpful tech store employee ran all over getting different types of mics and telling us about their features, complete with smiles and patient answers to our questions. When we decided not to buy any mics from him, I felt really bad. Then I remembered that at home, telling about the mics in a polite way would’ve been an ordinary part of his job. But I still remember that nice guy. So back to the smiley market lady - I was somewhat embarrassed to interrupt her customer service efforts and gave her an extra-emphasized ‘thank you’ and smile at the end of our transaction. Hopefully she’ll be back next time – even though I’ve adjusted to the cultural way of doing business here, I think I’d pay more for the fruit just to see the smile.
Laura
