Bigbob comments

I find most things at McDonald's very positive. One thing that does frustrate me though is that I am a hot coffee drinker and many times when I order a cup of coffee, I look at the pot they're pouring from and notice it is the last cup. Usually the coffee has been sitting there for a long time. Rather than throw it out and perk a fresh pot, they wait until the very end to serve a horrible/not fresh cup of coffee.

It's all about money. Those of us who have taught in Japan for a number of years know this. It's like a pyramid system when the intelligent ones get to go to the top schools (intelligent in that they can pass tests after thousands of $ have been spent in juku over the years. I don't believe the Education Ministry realizes that not all people are cut out for college, university, and you name it. Then those that can't make it into higher ranked schools pay all this money to get admittance to a school who would take anyone; as long as they have money. As an old friends of mine used to say, God rest his soul, you can't make chicken salad out of chicken S ##$% T.

I'm with others who said, "No, we all don't do it." I don't have a smart phone and I just shake my head in disbelief at all the people who have their nose in a smart phone or whatever. This is just another example of what I call "An only in Japan."

Was he strung out on Viagra as well?

Follow up. I just wanted to add this "fact" from an article that was printed a few years ago. ****Increasing the price of tobacco through higher taxes is the single most effective way to decrease consumption and encourage tobacco users to quit. A 70% increase in the price of tobacco could prevent up to a quarter of all smoking-related deaths worldwide.

Perhaps Japan should do something similar in raising taxes on cigarettes. It's still much too inexpensive to purchase cigarettes in Japan. I have COPD as a result of being stupid and smoking for too many years before quitting a couple of decades ago. Even now, I get so frustrated going in to almost any restaurant in Nagoya where I live and the smoke is so thick, one could almost cut it. Perhaps NZ is too far ahead of other countries regarding strict programs, but Japan is certainly on the other end of the spectrum with very few anti-smoking measures. Instead of raising the consumption tax to 10%, why not just start taxing the heck out of cigarettes and get it to a point, like in America, where it would cost about 1,000 yen a pack. This is just my opinion, but I wanted to express myself so others know and realize what COPD sufferers have to go through here in Japan.

****I think it's fantastic. She must be an incredible performer. I'm sure she'll represent Japan and herself very well. Congratulations.