One time when interpreting at a meeting between a US law firm and their Japanese client, one of the attorneys, perhaps visiting Japan for the first time and apparently just starting on that case, was introduced to the group of Japanese on the other side of the table. A few of the people were new to me as well, so I was exchanging business cards. The new attorney piped up with a very audible question, asking the senior attorney on her team “Why do I have to give my business cards to people I am probably never going to meet again?” I think I tried to explain quietly that it was because we are in Japan and that is what people here do, but it apparently was not heard, understood, or appreciated. The clueless attorney begrudgingly exchanged business cards with people she never thought she would meet again.
It turned out that she was right. The law firm was quickly replaced by another firm, and they lost the client entirely, giving me a Schadenfreude hit, as that law firm’s behavior with me was already atrocious in a number of ways.