I like the lengths people go to help out, as RealJames said.
Back in 2005, I visited the Ikebukuro Animate and did the thing every tourist who wants to spend gobs of moola does: start on the top floor and work your way down, and along with that goes your funds....
Anyways, it was the DVD floor and back then I was interested in getting RaceQueen DVDs which this store has none, for obvious reasons. I began to explain myself to one of the clerks that I needed to find a store that would carry those DVDs. Since I was trying to communicate with him orally, he wasn't very receptive, as my Japanese was limited to a few words and his English wasn't apparently there either.
It was not until I brought out a notebook and started writing things such as "JGTC" and "Racequeen" that about 6 employees on the floor approached me, curious as to what I was writing. I soon figured out that they'd understand my English in writing better than any accent I can speak.
As soon as they realized what I was looking for, they started to work right away. One of them took out his own phone and started dialing numbers. Another one went behind the counter to look at some directory of the area, I presume. And the final one who helped me (the others went out to help other customers) started drawing a map of the nearby streets. When I told him to wait as I pulled out my trusty Kodansha Tokyo City Atlas (best book to have to roam the streets of Tokyo) and found the page with Ikebukuro on it, his eyes lit up and started putting dots all over the place denoting stores that may have them.
I couldn't believe the attention I was being given to look for an item they don't even carry! If it had been here in the states, more than likely they would have told me they don't have it and sent me on my merry way....
I was very impressed.... My sumimasen, wakarimasu ka, doko desu ka, chotto matte, kudasai, arigato, honto ni arigato gozaimasu, smiles and a few bows went a long way.... Just a few words can have a great, positive impact in their disposition.... I loved it....