Bakery

I went to a bakely last weekend hoping to grab a quick bite to go.  I thought I would be in and out like a convenience store visit.  As I was p(r)aying for my baked goodness, the cashier reminded me that all bakely staff are platinum (w)rappers.  They've all wrapped a million pastries by the end of their first week.  When you buy three different things, they wrap each thing separately.  Why do they wrap so much?  There must be a bakely union in Japan that sets the standard for wrapping purchases.  The first commandment probably reads, "Thou shalt wrappeth each type o bakt goods individually."  I looked over at lady standing at the register next to me who was purchasing three cream puffs.  The cashier wrapped two cream puffs in one bag and the third cream puff in a separate bag.  I thought this was an Eco country trying to cut down on the use of plastic bags.  Little did I know that the second commandment reads, "Two puffs at a time".  I wonder if I can earn some Eco points on my next bakely purchase.

Escalator

Riding the escalator can be a positive experience in Nihon compared to other places.  In big cities, the natives stand to one side of the escalator allowing people to walk up the escalator on the unoccupied side.  Those in a rush can walk up the escalator rather than waiting behind the crowd.  However, some strange side effect has been produced from this courtesy.  Some people when walking up the escalators stop at the top as the escalators level out.  This often creates a traffic jam and you wonder why they had energy to walk up but then they became lazy all of a sudden.  On the other hand, people who stand on the slow-moving side often start walking early before the escalator levels out.  It does help alleviate the traffic on the slow side, but why do they switch from being lazy and standing around to starting to walk early?  If I'm on the walking side, I walk all the way through.  If I'm on the standing side, I wait until the absolute last second to get off at the top.  Going up was used as the example here, but these things also happen when going down.

The end of the escalator isn't the only place with problems.  Old ladies sometimes cause problems at the beginning of the escalator.  They'll stop at the beginning and wait for the right moment to step onto the escalator.  Hey lady, this isn't a video game where you'll die if you step on at the wrong moment.