Real service

I was at the supermarket (in Japan) with my mother-in-law. She had wanted to buy some rice, but the one that she was looking for was out of stock, or at least, there wasn't any more stock on the shelf. So she went to ask one of the store assistants if they still have any stock left.

In Singapore, a typical response would be "if you don't see it on the shelf, then it is out of stock". A more kind service staff would probably take the trouble to go behind into the storeroom to see if there is any more stock and let you know.

The staff in the Japanese supermarket went behind to check, and came back telling us that there is no more stock. However, a new batch will arrive the next day at 11:00, and he asked if we would like to leave him our name, so that he can arrange for a packet to be left at the service counter for us to collect on the next day.

That is what service is about.

A previous post about service in Singapore