SUBTEXTbusiness career. What is impossible is to have such a career
and still be married. They feel you should do one thing and do
it right. They don't believe you can be a wife and a mother and
still work.
"I was the most junior member of a Japanese firm," Cathy
said, remembering her early days in Japan. "When we went out
to lunch, the most important man would leave first, and after
him, each would leave in order of importance. I'd go last and
have to push the door open myself. The subtext was clear. I was
low woman on the totem pole!
"Then a British attorney visited us, and we all went out to
lunch, and lo and behold, they held the door open for me to go
out first! I realized that it was because they thought that was
what the British visitor would have done, and they didn't want to
offend him."
MORE DEALINGS WITH THE JAPANESE
Anthony works for an import furnishings outfit, and frequently
travels abroad to arrange for import of various items from different
factories. He told me of his problems with a Japanese casting
factory. "I went there to see if they could make a certain zinc
die cast for a candlestick. We intended to silverplate the casting
because that would allow for fine sculpting, depending on how
the die tools were made.
"At the factory, I saw that they made excellent die castings
for industrial products. I showed the factory committee the sample
candlestick and asked, 'Can you do this?' They said yes and I
asked how soon can I get samples. They asked when I was leaving
Japan. 'In four days,' I told them. 'We'll have the samples for
you before you go,' they assured me.