Monday, November 2, 2009

Will Miss #68 - crosswalk competition


There was a "game" I started playing early on in my stay in Japan as a psychological test. The game is to stand at a crosswalk waiting for a light with a group of people that includes an older (45+) Japanese man and to stand comfortably off to the side of him, but just marginally closer to the crosswalk than he is. Eight times out of ten, he will edge ahead of you. If you nudge a little further so you're a bit ahead, he will move again. This works particularly well with men who are clearly standing ahead of the pack because they want to make sure they are first out of the gate when the crossing light goes green. They won't tolerate a woman getting even an inch in front of them when the moment arrives.

I'll miss occasionally doing this psychological test that reveals part of the nature of older Japanese men.

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