One of the many interesting exchanges in Casi 40 is the one that follows the man’s announcement that the previous occupant of his hotel room stole the batteries from the remote. The woman is unimpressed, and tells him that people steal all the time; she gives a partial list of items that are regularly taken from Spanish hotels and restaurants. She adds that this doesn’t happen in Japan. In Japan, she says, if someone leaves a cellphone behind, people leave it so it will be there when the owner returns. The man asks the woman if she has been to Japan. Yes, she says; she loved Japan. He says he suspects people are happier in Spain. “Because we steal,” she says, smiling. It is a line delivered for effect, while the man’s is sincere and probably accurate.
