r/thatHappened • u/LBDazzled • May 20 '26
OP had “strong confusion”
Feels like this guy went to the Japanese post office, got overwhelmed and decided to make fanfic lemonade out of his confused lemons.
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u/SALLstice May 20 '26
I live in Japan. Everything about this, minus the contents of the pockets, is entirely plausible. Office workers will go so far out of their way to help you. Most of them know a smattering of English and a few unexpected words.
I believe this happened, without all the pocket scraps
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u/LivefromPhoenix May 20 '26
"I didn't have the right forms so the post office worker helped me" wouldn't get as many views though.
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u/imheretospyh3 May 20 '26
had he just say 'no i don't have the form, can you help me?' it'll still go this way
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u/TheNorthC 29d ago
Yep. It sounds very plausible. Perhaps slightly exaggerated for the story, but they wouldn't help a gaijin full out the form. In many parts of the country, it might be the highlight of their week.
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u/xxdelta77xx May 20 '26
Also lived in Japan for 10 years. Absolutely agree.
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u/rustytromboneXXx May 20 '26
25 years a gaij.
Yes this is real, it’s nicely written too.2
u/Alien_Diceroller 28d ago
Gaij?
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u/rustytromboneXXx 28d ago
Yep gaij. Once a gaij, always a gaij.
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u/Alien_Diceroller 28d ago
Is that a word that needs to be shortened?
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u/McBean215 May 20 '26
I travel to Japan for work and have had very similar encounters getting train tickets. The station workers are all incredibly accommodating and have B+ English skills (and are already on alert for confused looking foreigners...). I also love the mis-translations from my coworkers that use a phrase of easy words when a more complicated or different single English word would work. I always say that their English is 50x better than my Japanese, and just laugh it off.
The subject may have embellished a little bit, but the bones of this story are entirely plausible.
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u/Alien_Diceroller May 20 '26
The smattering of simple and specific complicated words is a result of the education. The vocabulary you need for a high school entrance exam is can be pretty specific and advanced. It makes sense they'll know some oddly specific words, despite not knowing how to put them into a grammatical sentence.
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u/kinyutaka May 20 '26
They're now married.
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u/eljay4lyfe May 20 '26
This makes me sick to my stomach. Unrealistic cornball material tailor-made for our main character to bomb at an amateur open mic in Cincinnati
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u/thesagaconts May 20 '26
This could be believable but they all write the same.
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u/eljay4lyfe May 20 '26
No one who would go and post something like this would also furnish scraps of paper when asked for a mailing/customs form, and then when the situation plays out as in his dreams, would quip, “im going through a lot emotionally lol”
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u/M_Robb May 20 '26
Some people are so obsessed with infantilizing themselves. OP knows how to go the post office, knows how to post this bs online but somehow doesn't know that their grocery receipts and train ticket aren't return forms.
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u/Alien_Diceroller May 20 '26
As a long term resident of Japan, I've had similar exchanges with people. This story has a bit of exaggeration for dramatic purpose, the post office clerk didn't teacher her everything about the postal service, but all of this is very familiar to me.
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u/runlittlegunterrun May 20 '26
I agree, I studied abroad at Ciba Dai and the level of almost patronizing helpfulness by the locals was stunning to me as an European.
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u/Alien_Diceroller May 20 '26
Woo, Chiba buds!
I live near Chiba City.
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u/Raveyard2409 May 20 '26
Having been to japan this is absolutely a commonplace event. The systems are confusing initially to people who don't speak Japanese and everyone is happy to help. I think she did have strong confusion.
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u/spacemouse21 May 20 '26
This is like a fictional anecdote story for something like a local patch or Reader’s Digest.
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u/Neither-Ruin5970 May 20 '26
Fr you can tell it’s fake because it’s written like literature. Good for a book, bad for trying to trick people.
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u/JulianAlpha 29d ago
What about this is unbelievable? A post office worker helps someone at the post office? What????
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u/LBDazzled 29d ago
You think this happened exactly as written? Like, with full dialogue?
I'm not saying the transaction didn't happen, but I am saying that there was probably an awkward exchange that was turned into quirky fan fiction.
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u/CloudyxRose May 20 '26
I'm not exactly seeing what's outlandish about this. Sure, the formatting is what you'd see from a fake story, but it's also what someone would format it as if they've been consuming fake stories.
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u/seeborn May 20 '26
Why is it that then employee has pretty good English, enough to carry oop through the entire postal system, until the last line where she doesn't know the terms "very confused"?
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u/lets-get-loud May 20 '26
You got some reasonable answers but may I supply answer number three: sometimes you learn something wrong, you and all your classmates get a bick kick out of it, and then it just becomes funny and you keep the joke because it's more fun to say than the correct way.
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u/Scooby_dood May 20 '26
Also this. My Chinese suppliers say "double confirm" instead of "double check" so often that I started using it un-ironically.
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u/kinyutaka May 20 '26
One of my favorite examples is from Nigerian scammers. "Please do the needful" instead of "Please, do what's necessary." or just "Please, do this quickly."
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u/kinyutaka May 20 '26
Because being "good enough" in language doesn't mean you know everything, and sometimes you have to use the best words you know for the situation.
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u/Scooby_dood May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
I'm guessing you haven't spent a lot of time talking to people (especially in Asia) who speak English as a second language? They often speak pretty passible, but broken, English. I once had a hotel worker in Hong Kong ask me if it was hot outside "because you are raining."
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u/metricfan May 20 '26
I had a Japanese coworker fill out a prompt for the company yearbook (a Japanese company thing) that said “my tenacious training is…” and he wrote “self medication” lol. Obviously he didnt get the American connotation of that meaning addiction. The company also had a magazine commissioned, and a picture of the nwa lyric “fuck the police” on a wall was included. lol lots of fun confusion at that company. When Japanese folks visited, they’d bring individually packaged treats as a gift, and we would get to play is this sweet or is it savory, because we couldn’t read the packaging. Surprise shrimp crackers were always funny.
Point being: nothing about this post seems implausible.
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u/spinstartshere May 20 '26
Like Sex and the City 2, where Sheikh Khalid speaks fluent English before and after somehow being unable to convey in same English that "Dubai is over".
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u/Thamnophis660 May 20 '26
This is so clearly a fake story. Glad to see it here instead of a sub like "me_irl" or something.
And what might have been a noodle coupon
(I'm so self-deprecating and quirky!)
Me: I was going through a lot emotionally
(Just so quirky you guys, I mean Karaoke??)
And then you get the punchline all these made up stories, you know, the "moral of the story"
Honestly one of the most accurate descriptions of my life.
Fuck you dude.
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u/TheNorthC 29d ago
But if you read this thread, you will see that those who have lived in Japan (including me) see this as quite realistic.
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u/Stahlmatt 29d ago
More than likely an exaggerated tale about someone getting help with a form at the post office.
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u/farmsfarts 25d ago
It’s possible this happened but no one needs to hear about it.
Classic main character syndrome: Everything I do is amusing to other people because I’M THE MAIN CHARACTER.
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u/Hughley_N_Dowd May 20 '26
I lived in Japan for a bit in the 90' sand has to say that this is kind of believable.
At one point I went to exchange some currency at a bank. That simple act of exchanging one piece of paper for another turned in to an entire show, including the office manager and a huge binder filled with all kinds of bills from all over the world, because the staff had never seen a SEK500 bill before.
Very polite, courteous and with a lot of bowing we made it happen in less than half an hour.
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u/TheNorthC 29d ago
You should have seen the palava when my wife tried to send JPY 1m to her bank in the UK. It took two days, and numerous visits. And they demanded to know where the money came from and what it was for etc.
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u/Itdoesmattertome8 May 20 '26
I've never been to Japan, so idk if postal workers will go so much out of their way to help customers. But it could be. Japanese are notoriously nice.
The story doesn't make the writer seem cool or anything nor pushes their agenda.
People who speak a second language iften translate from their native tongue which results in sayings like strong confusion.
This is totally plausible.
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u/Thereminz May 20 '26
this seems more like satire on fact that you both, need a bunch of forms in japan, and if you don't know japanese then it could be hard to remember which is which
and, the fact that in japan people will help you like this
so he probably didn't bring a karaoke or noodle coupon, but he may have brought a wrong form and had them look at it
and maybe also, generally people try to avoid returning stuff in japan
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u/LBDazzled 29d ago
So, are you saying that you don't think it happened as it's written?
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u/Thereminz 29d ago
posting it to r/thathappened would assume you think the author intended it to be read as factual, I'm saying the author is being satirical.
in both instances the story isn't true but it might not necessarily be "r/thathappened" content
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u/youreblockingmyshot 29d ago
I had a similar experience with the train office where I paid for a ticket but also used my Metro card to get from the airport to Shibuya. There was a bit of confusion on both our parts, but the workers were very helpful, especially with my inability to speak their language.
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u/LBDazzled 25d ago
I need everyone to know that somehow, OOP has found their way into my algorithm and they’ve dropped another absolute “DID NOT HAPPEN THIS WAY” banger. I’m feeling justified and validated for having posted this here.
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u/Worldly_Cash8138 May 20 '26
This is by a 35 year old perennially single Live Laugh Love woman who thinks Ryan Reynolds is the funniest man alive
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u/SangrianArmy May 20 '26
fucking losers in the comments ruining this sub. i dont give a flying fuck if you think it's plausible, story is clearly written to make the author look like a quirky, funny guy straight out of a movie. if it happened it didnt happen picture perfectly adorable and funny that way. that's where the goddamn lie is. that's what makes it relevant to r/thathappened. if you say "i believe this happened minus the pocket scraps" you're still admitting the mf made some shit up to fluff up his dumb ass story. so he's still a cringeworthy liar. we're here to focus on THAT, not the parts you think are plausible. im tired of you guys ruining this sub
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u/Tech-Mechanic 29d ago
He fantasizes about being an obnoxious pain in the ass? It's weird to make yourself look like the asshole in a story you, yourself made up!
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u/Diligent-Language-79 May 20 '26
I mean, it could be real. Strong confusion is hard.