Went to a local Housing Executive office to hand over a form. Lucky that I live in the central part of the town where almost everything is in a walking distance. A big smile about all the calories I burnt by walking around, but walking gives me a very good appetite!
A big sigh to see 4 people sitting on chairs at waiting area of the office. But, after sitting for 20 seconds, I noticed T behind the counter trying to get my notice by giving me a look. Nice that I didn't need to wait for my turn this time. When I went over to the counter, he told me he was trying to remember my name, which was the reason for his silent attention-seeking. Yeah, my face is easy to remember but my name... Well, quite many people can remember it OK, which is a nice surprise.
I don't like staff at government offices because most of them treat people as numbers. (They are just doing their jobs, though.) But T is quite different. I mean, he is very friendly and helpful. He doesn't look like an office worker. You would find a man like him in a library, a theatre or a university. When I first visited the office, I found his way of speaking a bit odd. I mean, he was very loud and clear for a man doing an office work. But soon I realized that he had to often speak to foreigners, some of whom naturally struggle with the local accent, and that he also had to speak to elderly people, many of whom cannot hear well. I used to speak like him to my late parents-in-law in their 70s.
According to T, some old folks living near the office sometimes pop in the office to ask him questions about benefits which are not directly related to housing. (He even told me to come and ask him anything I'm not sure about...) I can't imagine a thing like this happens in the government offices in Japan, let alone some chit-chats such as T's girlfriend is from Romania. (I don't know him privately.)
Any way, nothing awkward happened at the office, so no complain. Let's see if T will remember my name the next time I visit the office.
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