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My wife and I just came back from Japan for her sister's wedding. It was my first experience there, and the level of professionalism, politeness and accomodation was overwhelming. My wife had to go to the Japanese Family Court to have her maiden name changed (since she didn't get it done in the first few weeks after our wedding in the U.S., a court trip was necessary). The clerk, not a manager, at the court was very polite and expedited a 30 day process into a single afternoon! I could not believe that a government worker could be so nice to us. Everyone there always smiled when we met them. It was a remarkable culture and the level of self respect and mutual respect was something I have not experienced. Upon returning to the U.S., the contrast in attitudes was significant. Anyone that had even the slightest bit of power over you, from the gate agents, the immigration and security people and even the waiters in the restaurants all seemed to have a chip on their shoulder. It seemed like many people here had something to prove or was instinctively postured to be adversarial at the first presented opportunity. WHy do so many people throw upmtheir own roadblocks in life by being this way when being mutually accomodating gets everyone even more than by being b!tchy.

I can guarantee everything you said in your post just now (post #17) about the level and care and cleanliness and efficiency of service JAPAN!!

One often gets 'reverse culture shock' when returning to the States, particularly after maybe a year or two in Japan (where one gets spoiled) to get confronted immediately, even upon landing at the airport, with crappy attitudes, mistakes, and just plain unconcerned and disrespectful attitude toward the customer. It slaps you right in the face, you get angry, and after a few weeks and months though, you get use to the lowered level of service again. What else can you do? "Oh well, this is afterall America, after all", you kind of roll around in your head as you re-adjust to generally lower standards.

Not a sermon or harrangue here. Just the truth.

The rudest country in the world is...

...ISRAEL!!

Rudeness is like a badge of honor. Israelis like to call themselves "Sabras" which is a kind of fruit that is hard and prickly on the outside but soft and mushy on the inside.

Although I have to admit that with some people, particularly party hacks and government bureaucrats, the hard and prickly part goes all the way through.

Maybe it has to do with the stress of not knowing if the guy you sit next to on the bus you ride every day is going to blow himself and you to his virgins. I lived there 30 years ago and people were rude then, there were more who remembered that waiting quietly and politely in line just made them easier to dispose of.