We had a five-hour layover at Narita airport near Tokyo. That's not really being in Japan, of course. But it's the closest we've come since leaving there about 13 1/2 years ago, and it triggered a lot of recollection--how cashiers use small silver dishes to receive your payment and return the change. I was reminded of dozens of little things like that which I had forgotten.
The recollection really started at the gate check-in at Chicago, when United Airlines handed us (but not all of our luggage) off to All Nippon Airways. From there, our trip got a lot more pleasant. Things worked. People were helpful. It drove home for me how much discourteousness we put up with day-to-day. An airline experience may not be representative, but the retail experience in the Narita terminal supported this idea--how often in the U.S. we have to deal with employees evading the truth (i.e. the "on time departure" where you sit on the tarmac for 30 minutes), and how our fellow passengers don't do the simple things like waiting their turns in line--it's like we're in a state of war all the time. When I left Japan in 1992, I remember that there was something about the rigidity of day-to-day life there that got on my nerves and that I had had enough of, and I came home a patriot. Now, I can't remember at all what was bothering me. Yesterday, I certainly appreciated the few hours of civility.
-Robert
