Service Japanese style

Visited a lovely Indian restaurant 'Gurgaon' in Tokyo. Quaint, cosy place with great food and awesome service.

On stepping out I found it had started to rain. I did not have an umbrella. Thought I'd wait for a few minutes for the rain to abate and make a dash to the hotel. The restaurant manager came over and figured that I did not have an umbrella. He went and got me an umbrella. I thanked him and said I'd return it the next day. He sweetly said it would not be necessary.

After nearly 20 hours in airports and aircrafts I was rather tired. I wanted to get back to the hotel asap to rest. The thoughtful gesture by the restaurant manager saved me precious time, helped me reach the hotel comfortably. 

Such intuitive , unexpected service is more the norm in Japan than the exception (in my experience). A reminder that business is ultimately a human endeavor. And that in our consumerist world the quality of the experiences we enable as businesses impacts lives. A thought perhaps worth holding on to while shaping service policies , building culture, encouraging employees to use their discretion and kindness when the manual has no answer for unusual , unexpected situations.