Timeline for Is it proper to thank waitstaff, cashiers, etc. for their service?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
13 events
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| Nov 7, 2019 at 20:38 | comment | added | jarmanso7 | Regarding your cultural observation, I've experienced the same. I don't think Japanese are trying to be superior either, but I think they lack empathy when it comes to people (employee) providing a service for other people (customer). If they were empathic, I don't think they could ignore so happily and so easily that they are dealing with humans. | |
| Sep 26, 2013 at 2:12 | history | edited | Questioner | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Fixed small grammer mistake, made formatting a little cleaner.
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| Jul 5, 2012 at 13:01 | comment | added | Jamie Taylor | This wont help the conversation, but this is an amazing answer. I wish that I could give it more than a single +1. | |
| Feb 14, 2012 at 7:54 | comment | added | dainichi | @DaveMG One point of nitpickery though: I do not agree with your description of ありがとう and どうも. どうも is casual, but polite (and those are 2 different dimensions). ありがとう, however, is not casual, but it's non-polite, so it sounds slightly patronizing. I would use どうも over ありがとう. | |
| Feb 14, 2012 at 7:33 | comment | added | dainichi | @DaveMG Sorry, but 終わりそう made me laugh out loud :) But props for picking up expressions in real life and not just using textbook Japanese. Just FYI, '終わりそう' means 'about to finish', not to confuse with '終わったそう' or '終わって(い)そう'. 'Looks like I'm done' would be something like '終わったみたい' but is not really idiomatic in this situation. | |
| Sep 29, 2011 at 16:25 | history | edited | Questioner | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Furigana for the win!
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| Jul 16, 2011 at 16:25 | comment | added | Tsuyoshi Ito | I do not know, but depending on the context and how you pronounce, they may not even notice that what you said is not really おあいそう. | |
| Jul 16, 2011 at 16:19 | comment | added | Questioner | @Tsuyoshi: Thanks for the correction. Not just here on this answer, but also because for a decade I've been saying 終わりそう, thinking I'm saying "looks like I'm done". I wonder if the Japanese staff just took me at face value, or thought I was mispronouncing おあいそう...? | |
| Jul 16, 2011 at 16:17 | history | edited | Questioner | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Corrected おわりそう to おあいそう.
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| Jul 16, 2011 at 16:00 | comment | added | Tsuyoshi Ito | (1) Your cultural observation is very interesting. I think that it partly explains why not many customers say ありがとう or even どうも to cashiers, because it sounds too personal. (2) The word to ask for a bill in sushi restaurants is not 終わりそう but お愛想 (おあいそ or おあいそう). | |
| Jul 16, 2011 at 13:00 | history | edited | Questioner | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Added some more specific answers as requested in the original question.
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| Jul 16, 2011 at 11:59 | comment | added | Mark Hosang | i've had a the same exact experience with hostess in japan who asked if they could join me and my host-brother at Karaoke. They were completely different in the hostess bar than out. | |
| Jul 16, 2011 at 8:54 | history | answered | Questioner | CC BY-SA 3.0 |