Throughout all these years living in Japan, I've never, at any time, forgot to return those DVDs that I've rented according to its designated due date. However, today, I am two days late from the date of return for those titles (
Transformers 1,
Transformers 2,
How the West was Won,
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,
The Terminal,
The Pursuit of Happiness) that I've borrowed.
To summarize the damage:
Rental cost
100Yen/2 weeks x 6 DVDs = 600Yen (Cheap isn't it for 2 weeks?)
Late fee
(200Yen/day x 2 days) x 6 DVDs = 2400Yen (Gosh!!! This is more than the rental fees!!!) :(
Lesson learnt = Priceless (The most important note to take home)
The lady worker in the DVD Rental Shop looked amazed and when I asked her why she seems startled, she said that it is a rarity for Japanese to forget the due date. I smiled a "Malaysian smile".
Japanese were trained from their early ages to be punctual and culturally, would really be ashamed if they broke their promise. In business like this DVD rental shop, the rate for late fee is high, targeted to make money out of ignorant renters as well as to educate the society indirectly about the importance of punctuality (My personal opinion). I will learn from this mistake and will always remember from now on that somehow, "Time is money" (Doesn't really got the meaning literally before).
