This morning I drove my wife to the station and returned home to find a small pile of leaves on the street near the curb where I park my car. It was about 9:30 in the morning, maybe closer to 10:00, and there was no one around. I parked my car, on top of the leaves (there wasn't anywhere else to park, and my "spot" is so well established you can see it when the car is gone) and went inside to eat breakfast and have coffee.
About 10 minutes later I was enjoying a fried egg bagel and hot seeped bean extract when the door bell sounds. My mother-in-law usually answers, but she was wooing the baby to sleep so I went to see who it was, expecting a delivery or mail. It turned out to be the next door neighbor who explained to me that she had been cleaning the street but had forgotten to bring her garbage bag with her. While she was fetching it, I happened to return and cover up her leaf pile and would I be so kind as too pull my car forward.
I wasn't amused by this rather odd request (it's just a pile of leaves about the size of a dinner plate) coming during my morning refueling session, but to avoid causing any neighborhood strife I complied and slipped on my sandals to move forward. As I got in the car, she reminded me to stay put once I pulled forward so I could put it back once she had cleaned up. Sheesh! So I sat there for a minute or so while she scraped the leaves up (she was 'sweeping' with a dustpan: KKKkkKKKkKkRKkkrrzzkzkkk!) and then she gave me permission to put my car back.
It wasn't a big deal and I wasn't upset, but it struck me as odd. If it was me, I wouldn't have done what she did. My wife mentioned that most Japanese would have avoided parking over the pile, an effort that wouldn't have gone unnoticed by this lady, whereby she would have thanked me profusely for not covering up her pile and she'd apologize for causing me an inconvenience. I knew that this was how it usually plays out, but when I arrived I decided that if consideration for others is really such a priority, she could have had the consideration not to scrape her leaves up in my parking spot.
But like I said, this wasn't a big deal or problem, just a quirky little experience I had with a middle-aged Japanese neighbor. I don't actually have many stories to tell because I don't deal with Japanese people outside of formal or family settings much. Behavior is circumscribed and dictated by roles in these situations, so there isn't much to talk about (athough I could explain how pissy my father-in-law gets if I don't say "Tadaima!", a set phrase that every Japanese person utters when returning home that predictably means "I'm home"). It seriously puts him in a bad mood if I don't say this. I don't know if it's a respect thing or what. It is funny when he throws his tissy fits, like when he got upset the other day when I asked if anyone else thought the TV was a little too loud. It's his house, so I shouldn't snipe, but it IS funny.
Okay, back to the dissertation. Close to 40,000 words now, about 120 pages maybe. 5 days to go.
Posted by Nutrimentia at November 26, 2003 07:24 PM | TrackBack