I remember a visiting friend once asked me while we were at a restaurant, why I would say sumimasen<\/em> \u3059\u307f\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong> (Sorry…), which is a Japanese word of apology, when the waitress brought us food. \u201cIt feels appropriate\u201d was my first thought. After thinking about it again, I resolved that using sumimasen<\/em> in this context means \u201cI\u2019m sorry to have troubled you, but thank you,\u201d instead of a plain translation of \u201csorry\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n