A difference of culture........

みなさんがんばりましょう！Minasan ganbarimashou, is something you often hear working in Japan. It means everyone lets do our best! It's that sort of mentality that the people you are working alongside with have in Japan. From the dish crew to the servers, cooks, and the management everyone come to work with that thought in mind....to do their best in whatever it is they do. It is that environment that I miss working with the people in Japan. Unfortunately, it is not the same here. Majority of the time, people spend most of their energy complaining about the job place or their work. And in most cases, don't even come in to work. This is one problem that you wll never find in Japan. Not once, since I was there, did anyone called in sick. Not once. What's even worse is that you find it in the management positions here.
I can clearly remember the time when I first started off in this career as an apprentice pulling more hours than the chef because I wanted to learn more. You don't see this in the work force these days. What has happened to the work force of America?
Words like ganbarimasu(do one's best), hatarakisugi na hito, isshokenmei na hito (hard working person) is consistently heard in the workplace in Japan. A lot of postive reinforcement is passed from one staff to another. And the result is the quality service and products that prevail. Service alone in Japan is unbeatable. Everywhere you go you are constantly greeted and thanked, even if you didn't buy anything. Servers only get paid a low salary position of about 20,000 a year if not lower with NO TIPS (no tipping is allowed) and yet, their service is impeccable.
Soon again, I will find myself in the land of the rising sun.