I don’t live in the populated areas so I’m almost always guaranteed a seat in the train, pregnant or not. In my recent visit to Tokyo, I was never offered a seat in the trains although obviously pregnant and with the bag “pregnancy tag”. It was fine because I could lean against the train to get comfort for my back or sometimes, my backaches were so bad, I would squat. Honestly, being pregnant and knowing how rough it is on my body, I will make a conscientious effort to give up my seat to a pregnancy woman. Most of you can’t relate and that’s fine but I was clueless about the pains pregnant women go through and now I know to be more aware and considerate.

I don’t know if I’m “caught up” in our differences, I would say that I acknowledge that differences exist and do my best to evaluate people on their own terms. In fact, I moved to London from Florida because I absolutely love the incredible diversity of people and cultures here. I still don’t understand why little things like people not holding doors or smiling back has you so upset that you’d use terms/phrases like “asshole” and “they can go fuck themselves”.

Lastly, I’d like to point out that to the Japanese, perhaps their “quirks” are not “quirks”. Maybe “open your mind a little” and consider that perhaps just because they don’t act the way you expect them to, doesn’t mean they are “afraid to change”, or have to change at all. Personally, I like them the way they are. :)