I have long been of the opinion that the American culture of tipping is somewhat barbaric but now I have an answer to those who say that tipping encourages good service.

Go spend a week in Tokyo and a week in New York and then tell me which one has the better service.

Even the immigrations and customs people at Narita polite and helpful.

Next time I run into Obama at one of his rallies, I’ll encourage him to issue this as his first Executive Order:

All persons intending to work in a customer-facing role are required to spend six months in Japan for on the job training.

Oh. And they’ll also be required to say -imas after every third word.