Night Visitors

What do you do if you have a door-to-door sales offer?  What if it is at night? To me, I always decline any door-to-door sales offers. The other day at 9:30 pm, someone was standing at the door and pushed the buzzer over and over again. I looked through the peephole and found two men were there. Basically, I never open the door when a stranger comes to my house, but I opened the door that day because I thought that these guys might be my neighbors. Since they were dressed in suit, it seemed like they were on the way home from work. I know most of my neighbors but not all of them.

When I opened the door, a guy a started sales pitch about carpet cleaning. The other guy didn’t say anything. He just stood behind the guy who spoke to me and watched me with an eagle eye. He offered me a free trial cleaning. He said if I accepted his offer, he would check my house and give an estimate right away. I didn’t let them in. I didn’t want to show my house to strangers, let alone at night. I declined his offer. After they left my home, I watched them. They got into their car without visiting any other neighbors and got into their car. Their car was a sedan and there was no company name was printed.

I can’t help thinking they were suspicious. A night visitor, in particular a stranger, is reminiscent of a crime. I remembered name of the company which he said, so I looked up the company on the Internet, but I couldn’t find the website of cleaning company. Some skepticism has lingered in my mind. Is the door-to-door sales offer at night common in the U.S? What do you think about this?

Car and Sandwich

It seems there is no relation between cars and sandwiches, but I really feel a big cultural difference between the U.S and Japan when I think about these two things. What kinds of options are available to customers when they purchase a new car in the U.S.? What kinds of toppings are available to customers when they get sandwiches in Japan?

The purchase of a car is a big deal. The car dealers in Japan don’t have an inventory of new cars. The car manufacturer starts building a car for a specific customer after the sales contract. Most car dealers usually offer a basic model which is not fully equipped. A customer chooses not only interior options, such as the car audio system, navigation system and seats but also exterior options. Many people really look forward to their car after they have ordered it, and it’s exciting to purchase a car in Japan. I was surprised when I went to a car dear in the U.S. They sell a lot of inventory of new cars and most options have already been implemented. Also I was astonished that a customer can drive home right way after the sales contract has been signed.

Speaking of sandwiches, I can say that the opposite is true. In the U.S, a customer chooses the bread, toppings and dressing, but most bakeries in Japan provide a prepared sandwich and the customer doesn’t have extra choices.

Which country is more likely to be picky? As far as I’m concerned, Japanese are choosy about cars. It is not necessary to have a car in Japan, in particular for people who live in the big city. Since most Japanese regard cars as a kind of entertainment, they tend to be choosy.

As for food, I really have no idea which country is pickier about it. The one thing I can point out is that Japanese are more likely to rely on the restaurant’s recommendation for the best buy.