Here's a question for my fellow expatriates: When was the last time a Japanese person said "hello" to you?

Wait, let me rephrase that: When was the last time somebody used your presence as an excuse to say/shout/whisper "haro" whilst furtively glancing sideways at their companions to confirm they just made the funniest joke ever?

I am asking because it struck me that it has been a while, maybe half a year at least, since this has happened to me — since I have had the chance to further perfect my standard response to what I call haro-hara, a form of harassment. This response consists of shaking the haroer's hand while offering them my hearty congratulations on being the 10,000th person to make the short synaptic leap from gaijin (foreigner) to haro. I keep thinking that next time I should add something about how they have just demonstrated the requisite level of comic originality to qualify as a Yoshimoto-branded TV "talent," but like I said, it's been a while.