Mr. and Mrs. Friendly
It’s so often a pissing contest with some gaijin here. Who lives where, who’s lived here the longest, who speaks more Japanese, who’s been coming to this place for longer, who has a better job, who allegedly doesn’t distinguish themselves from Japanese, who’s an English teacher, who’s a model, who’s a DJ. Sometimes the shallowness feels like high school.
How pretentious is it to deliberately ignore another gaijin on the basis that “you don’t greet everyone you meet when you’re walking down the street at home”? I don’t know where you’re from but it’s certainly considered rude to not reciprocate a simple hello to someone where I’m from.
When I was a kid, there was a couple who took an afternoon walk around my block everyday, and every day that I was outside playing in front I would say hello and they would simply ignore me or anyone else who attempted the same. Not totally understanding the sarcastic nickname my parents christened this couple, I too would often say, “Here comes Mr. and Mrs. “Friendly” again.”
Later in life I heard a story once from a friend who was in a Deli in NYC. While waiting in line he made eye contact with the guy next in line and said “How’s it going?” The guy turned to him and barked, ‘Do I F*@kin’ know you?’ My friend just started laughing and soon enough the guy started laughing too.
I don’t really see how these scenarios play out all that differently over here. I smile at the same gaijin who I see all the time all over Tokyo, and sometimes offer simple “how ya doing?”s to perfect strangers sitting next to me on trains. If you’re too cool to say hello or exchange a smile because you lived in Tokyo long enough to become characterless, then just keep your headphones on and don’t worry, we’ll just keep laughing at you, Mr. and Mrs. Friendly.
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