I love my local supermarket. When I lived in Oita, I shopped at a place called Marushoku (written 'Sunlife' in English). Here, I've got a supermarket called 'Life' around the corner.
They've had a display of Suntory Malt beer up all summer, where you can buy 3-tin sets which include a free glass. As Halloween has creeped around, the box design changed to a pumpkin motif called 'Otona (adult) Halloween'. This has been a Suntory promotion, and included the regular 350mL tins as well as the 500mL.
Today I pitched up to the supermarket to get a couple tins of beer to have with my curry pie from Jerry's Pies, figuring I would get Sapporo, or maybe even one of the sets. I was in the beer aisle, and I looked to see if there were any 350mL sets, and there weren't. I didn't want 500mL tins, so no problem-- I wandered further down the aisle. Just then, though, a supermarket employee saw me and came right over-- VERY unusual for Japan. The conversation went something like this, in Japanese:
Supermarket Employee (SE): Oh, are you looking for the regular size sets?
Me : Well, yes, I had been, but I see they're sold out. No problem.
SE : Shall I look in the back for more?
Me : Oh, no no, please don't go to that trouble. It's no problem.
SE : Really? Are you sure?
Me : Oh yes. I came yesterday, and there were sets, but I didn't buy one, so it's really my fault.
SE : Oh, no, it's not that at all. Yes, but it's really a great set with the glass and all.
Me : Yes, it is, so I'm sure they've been quite popular.
SE : Yes, they have. I'll go look and see if we have more. Are you in a hurry?
Me : Oh, you really don't have to do that. I don't mind buying something else.
SE : Are you sure?
Me : Oh, yes, it's no problem.)
SE : No no, I'll go look! If we don't have one made, we may be able to change one of the big tin sets for you.
Me : Oh, that's a lot of trouble. Please don't worry.
SE : No no, I'll go look. Wait a minute.
Before I could say anything, she RAN off. I, feeling a bit embarrassed by the trouble she was taking, sheepishly hung around the beer aisle as it would have been completely rude to walk off. Not 3 minutes later, she comes running back.
SE : I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting!
Me : Oh, no no, it was no bother at all. I'm so sorry to put you through all this trouble.
SE : We don't have any more sets, but we can change out one of the big set for you.
Me : Are you sure? I don't want to put you to any trouble.
SE : Oh no no, it's no trouble at all. These are a Halloween promotion, so we want to use the boxes by today anyway. What would you like? 3 tins of regular?
Me : (by now absolutely impressed by all of this) Oh... well, sure, yes please.
SE : (Walking over to the display). Oh... well, this tag says Y638 for 3, but the actual beer price is a bit higher. Is that okay?
Me : (at this point I'm not going to say no!) Yes, no problem at all.
SE : Oh, but this sign is a promotion for 2 regular beers and 1 dark ale... but how much is the dark ale.. let's see...
(she walks over to the individual regular tins)...
So the regular tins are Y215, so 3 would be Y645 (she had a calculator in her pocket), but how much is the dark ale...
Me : Oh, it's Y245
SE : Oh right... well, 2 tins of regular and 1 of dark... (calculates) but with a set discount (more calculations)... the price would be Y672. Is that okay?
Me : Sure, no problem at all (She had taken so much trouble at this point that I would have paid the regular price without a peep of complaint). Are you sure this is okay? I don't mind paying the full price
SE : Oh, no, we're happy to do this. It's a great promotion with the free glass, and we want to get rid of the Halloween promotion boxes, and we see you often in the supermarket anyway (VERY impressive to be remembered in suburban Tokyo!) so think of it as a small token of gratitude.
Me : Yes, this is is my local supermarket, as I just live around the corner, so I shop here at least once a week. This is incredibly nice of you... thank you so much for taking the trouble.
SE : Oh, it was no trouble at all. Happy Halloween, and enjoy!
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