Tsukuba Monogatari: 32nd post
I have always admired the subtlety with which Japanese people express feelings; however, when one spends an extended period of time in Japan, one begins to miss overt, extravagant―praise, for example. Especially at The Company, one begins to thirst for any sign of human feeling, any drop of what might possibly be construed as positive feedback.
Jennifer and I had a one-on-one with Morita-san, known for brusqueness and relentless questioning. We discussed his subordinates’ progress in training. I said that Ono-san (one of his subordinates) was wonderful to have as a trainee. Morita-san leaned back in his chair, speechless, and then laughed. I believe the unqualified positive extravagance of my response caught him by surprise.
Toward the end of the meeting, we asked him for his input on a business writing course we were planning to launch. “You’re doing the English classes, the intercultural classes, and new-hire training―and now writing, too? Aren’t you understaffed?”
That man does not know how close he came to having two gaijin women jump out of their chairs and throw their arms around him, sobbing in gratitude. But Jennifer and I have got subtlety of expression DOWN. We exchanged looks, and I said, “Yes―we are bit understaffed.”
Mirage in the desert. Courtesy of Michael Gwyther-Jones. Licensed under cc by 2.0.
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