5 minutes in post office

Small things make a big difference. Thats what I felt when I was returning from the post office in Tsurumi. It makes a very huge difference on how you are treated in the public and the social

respect that a citizen enjoys in his country. The public service industry especially those run by the govenment are notorious for treating the people in the most awkward way. This practice prevails

all over the world, no doubt in various proportions.
I remember an Akira Kurosawa movie of the 1950s, where in a group of common people are thrown over from the health dept to the sanitary dept to the public service dept to water works dept to

the roadways dept in a government office when they go there to report a leaking drainage leading to mosquitoes and filthy smell.
But, Japan has changed a lot since the 50s, people are respected everywhere, greeted with a "Irrashaimashe" while entering and a hearty bow with an "Arigato gozaimashita" when we leave.

I had been to the post office to send a CD to my friend in Tochigi-ken. As always, I did not take any precaution to protect the CD from damage. I had just put it in a CD case and took the

envelope with great confidence on the Japanese postal service that they would handle so nicely not to break my CD. The postal office clerk, read the destination address and confirmed if it is

Tochigi-ken and entered it to the console attached to the weighing machine. She asked me to pay 140 yen after weighing the envelope and stuck the stamp by herself. Then, she told thank you. To

be sure again, I enquired

"There is a CD inside, is that OK?"

"Should be OK, is there a CD case inside?"

I nodded and she told me that it would be better if we wrap it
with a cushion cover and then on her own, she rushed in to get a packiing cushion of the right size.
Back to the counter, she came along with tapes and scisssors.

In a minute, the envelope was opened again, CD wrapped up and packed back in perfection.

I thought, it was over but not at all. She weighed the cover back to check if its was 140 yen still.
The process over and we were greeted with a bow again - "Arigato gozaimashtha"

This incident is very usual in Japan but new to people like me.

People can go to such an extent of calling you a 'sama' (meaning emporer the highest position in the Japanese traditional hierarchy) as is the case when you visit a bank.
Getting used to this luxury, of being treated as an emperor everywhere, I was feeling awkward when I was in India for a week. The customer (or the okiyaku-sama) is the king in these developed

countries. India will also soon be following as there is lot of awareness in the past years. Hope this will follow once the purchasing capability of an average Indian increases.

Nagz