PART-TIME JOBS

The other day I went to a convenience store and while I waited for the staff to haet up my o-bento lunchbox, I observed them at work. They were rushed off their feet and working really diligently. It made me think of the level of service in Japan.


In English we have an expression which says "the customer is always right." In Japanese I heard there is the expression "The customer is God." For me, this sounds ridiculous but I really appreciate the standard of service in Japan whenever I go to other countries or back home to England.


Most of the staff at these places are part-timers so I am amazed at the level of effort they make! When I worked in part-time jobs as a student, I was incredibly lazy.


When I was 16, I got a weekend job at a well-known fast food chain (please don't tell anyone). The only reason I took it was because the hourly wage was higher than in other places. The job was terrible. I kept burning my fingers on all the hot cooking equipment and the other staff were all really unfriendly (and had terrible acne for some reason!). We could eat some of the food for our lunch there but I was sick of the food having cooked it all morning. The worst thing was that after I finished a day's work, my clothes absolutely stank of oil and animal fat. It made it very difficult to get a girlfriend...


Thankfully, I didn't stay there long and I managed to get a job as a cleaner for a dentist. This job was fantastic! I worked alone so I had three hours all to myself. I did the cleaning half-heartedly and then would sit down and take a nap for half an hour followed by making myself a cup of tea and stealing the dentist's biscuits! I think he noticed because he left a note saying "Please Pay If You Eat The Biscuits". I feel a bit guilty about this but I considered it one of the perks of the job at the time!


Since then, I think I have developed a bit more of a work ethic but it is nothing compared to the youngsters I see at the convenience store. I wonder how much they get paid?

▼▽▼▼【講師】Anthony先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【Early Humans 】2010.04.02 (Fri)