Saturday, December 4, 2010

It's kind of funny

Although maybe not funny "ha-ha." Maybe my mind is just in a different place right now, still somewhere in America. But I was just in the local ramen shop and heard this, and was somewhat struck by it. This is an actual (perhaps mundane) interaction:

[Someone spills something on the table]
Father: Ah, sorry!
Assistant Cook: Oh, I'm sorry!
Father: No, no, it was my fault.
Assistant Cook: Sorry, sorry.
Waitress: Sorry!
Mother: Sorry about that.


  1. If you added a pair of chopsticks and a robot dog, you would have summed up all of Japan in one concise blog entry. Kudos, my good man. Kudos.

  2. That's a traditional Japanese greeting.

    Also an expression of gratitude, congratulations, and condolences. Pretty much anything, really. But not an apology. Those involve suicide.