Nothing Changes

Tetsu mentioned that I don't seem to do as much blogging as I once did and I apologize for that... but life has settled so softly into a repeat of the day before, there isn't much to write about that I haven't already written about before...  The only difference in the day is basically what I've drawn.  I hadn't planned this to be a paint and sketch blog but if I don't resort to those, there is nothing to show.

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So last week I had to make a trip to a foods warehouse to pick up some walnuts and almonds and raisins.  I can get all of that at the local supermarket but the cost by gram is so much higher, that nearly 20 years or so ago I began buying those products (and coconut) from a warehouse that someone had told me about.  The first time I went I wasn't even sure I was in the right place, first, because I wasn't reading the Japanese characters correctly, but also because there was just this large loading dock and a drab office with lots of desks.  When I stepped into the aisle between the desks, barely anyone looked up and the lady who did seemed very put out about my presence.   When I asked about nuts etc, she grunted and told a younger clerk to get me some, quoted me the price and went back to her desk like I was invisible.  Wow!  Japanese businesses are usually so customer service conscious.  What's with this place?

The friend who first recommended the warehouse to me later commiserated with me about how lacking in service skills the office ladies were.  The prices made up for the monthly snubs and so all these years I've patronized the place and somewhere along the line decided I was going to wrangle my way into their vision.  I've asked if I could go back into the warehouse to see all that can be bought (huge cans of fruit and vegetables, bags of flour, tubs of mayonnaise and blocks of margarine) and that brought a stare and the younger office girl was told to accompany me.  I've commented about a knick-knack or two on a shelf and one older lady even dusted it off and gave it to me.  

The biggest breakthrough came when I asked for my regular nuts and raisins and the older office lady asked me why month after month I bought all this stuff, and when I told her I made granola she offered a bag of almonds to me free of cost as it was nearing its expiration date.  

"If you don't mind, and as long as you're baking it anyway."  

Since then the two older ladies (who have been around since I first started going) have warmed up to me quite a bit and I've chattered to them about my trips to the States and my English teaching and they actually act interested.  

The warehouse office hasn't much changed in the twenty some years I've purchased their products.  The office is still drab, the desks are piled with papers and cups full of pens and pencils.  The clear desk mats hold yellowing receipts and notices under them.  Everyone still stares at their computers or answers phones.  There is even one man there whom I've never seen move or speak and for all I know he could be a manequin propped in his chair behind his computer.  The older office ladies rule their office fortress and the younger office girl (a new girl every couple of years) has been trained to get my nuts from the warehouse and accept my money but she never says anything.  

Talk about not much changing in my daily life!  Nothing has changed at the warehouse in 20 years... except that the two older ladies now smile at me when I step into the aisle between the desks each month.