customer service on a new level

today i went to the bank with barry, the HR guy at the school, before we made a run to costco for the new teachers. in the bank i took notice of the funniest thing that also takes customer service to an all new level for me.

when we walked in there was a gentleman dressed in a suit using what looked like a ruler to smooth out a mouond of red goo on the counter where the deposit and withdrawal slips might be. he was meticulously smoothing and patting. when we entered he greeted us then went back to his smoothing and pattinig. i wondered what the heck he was doing considering it looked pretty weird and was not sure what the red stuff was for. as i sat and waited, i noticed an older man attending to his banking slips. the first thing i noticed was that the glasses he was wearing had a long golden color chain from one side of the frame stretched out towards the center of the counter. i then realized that the glasses belonged to the bank. they were there for the customers to use just like the pens that are attached to the counter. there were three different pairs to choose from. too funny! what a genius idea i thought. i decided that the bank is really trying to meet the needs of their customers. i also discovered the meaning of the red goo. the same man when attending to his bank slips took a small change size zippered pouch out of his pocket. he carefully unzipped the pouch and he took out his chop (the wooden name stamp). he tapped his chop into the red goo and then stamped his slips with it. in korea and i would think most asian cultures the chop stamp is as good as a signature if not better. i found this to be really interesting as i had not realized before that folks used their chops at the bank just for everyday business. i thought chops were used more for official business such as major transactions. i learned something new today.

this is definitely one aspect of living abroad that i enjoy....the people watching. it is quite interesting to just sit and observe and often i learn a lot. reminds me that sometimes i am such a rush that i don't take time to stop and look around me at the world. i am sure there are many lessons to be learned through observation.