Monday 7th November 2005 – International Negotiations

Posted on 2005/11/07 14:16:06 (November 2005).

Today it was probably the most important day of the trip, under the work point of view. I had to meet one of our major customers to discuss about a quality issue that we have had with the last shipments.
It is something that I largely expected (the quality issue), so I did advise at the time of the order that this article was going to be a pain in the arse (not with this wording, but more or less)...
To make things more difficult I am relying heavily on this account for my future targets, so the mediation was not starting on an easy ground for us.
I am surely changed in the years, I guess that I would have been far less political if the same situation occurred 5 years ago, but all in all the meeting was a complete success, we managed to find what I consider a good solution (considering that we started from a very reassuring “cancel the whole order”... Now I have to convince the people in Italy...), we have considerably strengthened our position with the client and our image, they are willing to switch from a competitor to our products AND we managed to start talking seriously about the current season.
Me and Kutsunugi san are really a good working team!!
Days like these mean a lot to me, show me that I am worth a lot more that people in my company are prepared to admit, and that maybe my skills could be of use to some other firm in the future.

All in all I am happy, I haven't sold a meter of fabric but I feel like if I sold the earth to God.

During another meeting I have witnessed the most amusing scene (see picture above). The guy sitting on the left hand side (you see only a bit), didn't realize that the pieces (the rolls or how the hell you wanna call them), have fallen to the ground.
As I was waiting with Kutsunugi san for the client to arrive I have noticed that for a good 10 minutes people were passing by (even with suitcases) without even hinting at picking them up to remove the impending obstacle.
It was great to observe the faces, first shocked to see the insurmountable road block, then saddened realizing that the world is really going pear shaped, then concentrated in jumping over the barriers in order t avoid a. DAMAGE and b. STARES of other people that might think that they should have picked them up and finally relieved after the physical effort and after realizing that only a stupid gaijin was looking at them with a puzzled face.

I guess that a similar thing would probably happen in western countries too, actually I would have thought that in Japan people would stop to pick them up, just out of politeness...

The woman in the picture eventually took them and put the against the wall, but I have the feeling that she's been called by another person to do the job. That's a very Japanese thing to do that would be branded as mobbing all over the way in Europe, but here it seems to work. I won't go into the role of women in Japan and Asia in general, but that's surely something that I don't quite like of these cultures (one of the few things...).

And you didn't help the woman picking up the rols! You are as macho as they are. Worse, you took a picture of her while doing so. How degrading...! Man, I'm not proud of you...

Posted by Sheri a.k.a. 'ze mean frog' at 2005/11/07 16:06:06.

Bad Lox, bad...

Posted by Sheri a.k.a. 'ze mean frog' at 2005/11/07 16:08:15.

Splendid picture Lox! Excellent! I really like the "extra arm" which seems to be extending from the poor lady (I take it, this is someone behind her?). As for the role of women... I find the whole Geisha idea pretty unpleasant, so maybe the treatment is deeply rooted... :/

Posted by Nigel Alefounder at 2005/11/07 21:12:56.

Sheri: Not a chance it was too amusing to watch them ignoring the rolls!! :)
Nigel: AHA! I didn't noticed the extra arm!! marvellous! As for the Geisha thing, it's noting more than an entertainer, no sex is allowed. There is a wrong perceptions of geisha by us foreigners. Still the role of women in Asian cultures is definiately one step behind men.

Posted by Lox at 2005/11/07 23:26:08.

Looks like you had a bit of an ace, there sir!

Posted by Rob Lang at 2005/11/08 13:58:35.

Rob: Thank you officer! :) It didn't last long but it was good nonetheless!! :D

Posted by Lox at 2005/11/08 14:48:41.

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