Japanese people are apparently not big fans of condoms, but they have this strange and annoying habit of putting absolutely everything in plastic bags. This is definitely one of my pet peeves about life in Tokyo!
Imagine you go to the bakery, and want four sausage rolls. The checking lady will automatically put EACH and EVERY one of those sausage rolls into four separate plastic bags, and then put those four individual bags into another bigger bag, and seal that bag shut with a piece of tape. It drives me absolutely insane! Why do they have to be in separate bags? They're all the bloody same! What an incredible waste of plastic! And how unnecessary! Does every single cookie need to be in its own hermetically sealed bag and then put into another bag? Does every rice cracker need to be individually wrapped? What is up with Japanese people and their packaging obsession?
According to my friend, the Japanese package everything to keep food products impenetrable and clean. This is especially handy when it comes to sharing, because instead of having a bunch of dirty fingers poking in a bag for a cookie, everyone gets their own packaged cookie. As I've mentioned before, people are insanely clean here, except for the strange and revolting city-wide habit that grown men seem to have of digging their noses in great depth on the train. It's quite horrendous!
Anyways! Nose picking aside... back to my bag gripe.
When I go shopping I always try to take bags with me so that I don't end up with a bag FULL of other bags. Yesterday I went to the bakery to buy some bread or some buns, and I went to the cashier and asked her to please put all of them into one bag. I swear to you this chick looks at me like I am freakin insane. Issho ni, onegaishimasu! I say to her with a polite smile. Issho ni? she replies in astonishment. Yes! All together please! Everything together! IN... ONE... BAG! What a revolutionary concept! The cashier reluctantly put them into one bag and handed it to me, and I went on my way. I put my bag of buns into my other grocery bag.
Then, I went downstairs and put all my grocery bags into the basket of my bicycle and unlocked my bike. As I did so, my bag of bread toppled right over, out of the bigger grocery bag, and my poor little buns fell onto the dirty, wet street. The little old ladies walking past me all shook their heads and made that 'tsk tsk' sound, as in, 'stupid gaijin... why didn't she have them in proper bags?'
The moral of the story? When in Rome... do as the Romans, and don't question their customs!
1 comment:
Oi, achei teu blog pelo google tá bem interessante gostei desse post. Quando der dá uma passada pelo meu blog, é sobre camisetas personalizadas, mostra passo a passo como criar uma camiseta personalizada bem maneira. Se você quiser linkar meu blog no seu eu ficaria agradecido, até mais e sucesso. (If you speak English can see the version in English of the Camiseta Personalizada. If he will be possible add my blog in your blogroll I thankful, bye friend).
Post a Comment