So last night...

I went to the store and bought a few groceries, including an avocado. As with American grocery stores, the fruits and vegetables that aren't packaged can't be scanned. Last night, my checkout lady didn't know what to do. She tried typing in a number but for some reason it didn't work, and she had to call over another employee to help her figure out how to process the purchase. While I was waiting patiently, she said "I'm sorry" two or three times, distractedly.

This is where the cultural difference begins. After she successfully processed it, she started babbling about how very sorry she was, and that she was new and was very embarrassed she hadn't done her job well, and that she would study hard in the future, and again very sorry, and she will definitely study and it won't happen again! All this while she was bowing repeatedly in a deep, apologetic fashion.

I love the customer service ethic here in Japan!