Sunday, December 20, 2009

Won't Miss #95 - passive coercion


Japanese people have a way of trying to push you to do what they want without actually asking you to do what they want. They do it by not responding or by continuously reasserting the same "problem" until you offer the solution that they want. For instance, if someone wants to reschedule an appointment for a specific day, but you can't give them the time they want and offer alternatives, they will not address the other choices and simply keep saying what is preferable. The other thing that they do is say nothing at all when you ask a question which won't give them a chance to offer the answer they want.

I won't miss this frustrating way of refusing to take "no" for an answer.