Being polite...

[Elizabeth]

I suppose I typically witness this at convenience stores and other everyday shops. I'm not the kind of person who would just start chatting away with a shopkeeper either, but I'm also not one to leave a "hello" unreturned or not say "thank you" just because it's a convenience store and not a fancy shop.

Whether it's an upscale boutique or convenience store doesn't matter -- the employee/customer relationship stays constant and many Japanese will tell you although you probably should it isn't considered rude not to thank the store worker. The customer is invariably in control.

In my view, not showing basic respect is similar to an abusive boss or store manager. Although my boyfriend sometimes argues the boss needs to keep workers happy to succeed himself, I always counter the same system of mutual reciprocity should hold just as true of okaykusan and if good service wasn't enough to be appreciative of it may slowly but surely start to disappear.