Why People Are So Difference, Part IV, Little Points from the Sport Field in the U.S. and Thailand

In the basketball court, after someone made a good basket, the opponent said, "nice shot."  When I heard it a few time, then I was sure I was not misunderstanding.  That is the sport culture in the U.S.--praise your opponent for they good performance.  According to my own memory, that seemed never happened in Thailand.

Then, someone make a mistake in the game, such as your partner in badminton or tennis did not cover the open field, resulting in the lost of a point, your own partner would always say, "That's my fault."  Yes, in Thailand, you sometimes here they apologize with the word "sorry" but never as much as admitting one's own faults.

In a supermarket, during our first visit after arriving from Bangkok to D.C., I accidentally hit one of the bottles of shampoo in glass contrainer from the shelf.  It dropped to the floor and broke.  Very quickly and politely, the store clerk said, "We are sorry, are you hurt?" (That is, caring for the customer first)  When we asked how much we have to compensate the store for breaking the bottle, the store clerk said, "No, nothing, it is our fault, not yours."