[MMM]

Regarding apologies and the US and Japan, I have actually come around to like the "Japanese method" better than what is SOP in the US.

In Japan I was frustrated for apologizing for things that were not my fault. In American thinking, that made me a lesser person...a lower rank, "the guy that messed up", whatever. However I realized that is modus operandi in Japan.

After living in Japan for a few years I became really aware of how Americans make excuses rather than apologies for their mistakes.

If I make a reservation at a restaurant in Japan, and am not seated at the exact time of my reservation (assuming I showed up on time or a little earlier) then I am given a heart-felt apology.

If I make a reservation at a restaurant in the US, and am not seated at the exact time of my reservation (assuming I showed up on time or a little earlier) then I am given an excuse why they couldn't fulfill the promise of a table at the time they made it to me.

This made sense to me before I lived in Japan, but now it just pisses me off. I would prefer the apology over the excuses.