Thursday, March 07, 2002
I got the results of my Japanese Language Proficiency Test yesterday--I'm now certified at the highest level of Japanese proficiency! Yay me!
It's been a while. Hi again.
So I started working here October 1, and began frequenting the local Blimpie and sushi shop shortly thereafter. I hit the former three or four times a week and the latter at least once a week. I get about the same thing every time, and of course they consider me a regular. They've always been courteous and friendly with the usual small talk.
This Monday, the Blimpie co-owners who almost always filled my orders asked where I worked, what I did, etc., and introduced themselves to me. On Tuesday, one of the women I usually see at the sushi joint called me by name (probably taken off my credit slips) and, again, asked about my job and the like. I thought it was pretty odd that people at both of my regular places would start to open up to me at around the same time; I realized it was a day or so over five months that I had been stopping by like clockwork.
My theory, based on these admittedly limited interactions, is that it takes five months of relatively steady contact before one party takes the next step beyond sheer professionalism and starts to be purely friendly as well. Maybe it only works in a commercial setting--that's the only place I've seen it, but then again that's the only chance I've had to see it.
Anyway, it's something to think about.
