I've been reading a manga called ダーリングは外国人 about a Japanese woman and her American husband. There's a page of text which I haven't been completely able to translate and I could use some help. The context is that the author is describing a cultural habit of her husband which she finds objectionable in the context of Japanese society.
Below is my attempt at a sentence-by-sentence translation. I'm not aiming for naturalness it the English translation really, it's just to get the point across.
トニーのひとりごと
Tony's Monologue
クレームは店長に言おう
Complaints should be sorted out with the manager
(This appears in a thought bubble above the character's head)
お金を払う代わりに何らかのサービスを受ける。
Various services can be exchanged for money.
たとえ、IT化が進んでも、この人間同士の約束は、多少融通がきいてもいいだろう。
For example, as IT is progressing, the function of these people should be adapting???
「左ききのもの、ないかな?」、「だいぶ冷えてきたけど、エアコンを調整してくれない?」など、お客さんがいってみて、初めて気づかれる「ニーズ」というものがある。
"You don't have any left-handed ones, do you?" or "It's kind of cold in here, can you change the air-con settings?" etc. whatever the customer asks for, their needs should come first.
しかし、マニュアル通りの商売を行っているところが増えている。
But the instances where a service "manual" is being followed are increasing.
まったく交渉の余地がなくなるほど、商売プロセスをパターン化してしまったら、競争社会では負けるはず。
If you're going to standardise the service process to the extent that the role of negotiation is is diminished, you're going to lose out in a competitive community.
例えばあまり混んでいない広いレストランにさおりとふたりで入った場合、窮屈なテーブルには座りたくない。
For example, when he went into a large, fairly empty restaurant with Saori, he didn't want to sit at a cramped table.
店員がマニュアルに従って狭いテーブルを進めたら、目線がマニュアルより若干上にあるはずの店長と交渉しよう。
When the staff member, following the manual, offers a small table, we should try talking to the manager, who should be able to consider more than just the manual.
店側は「だめだ」という自由がある。そしてお客さんはサービスを選択する自由もある。
For the shop's part, they have the freedom to say "No". The customer also has the freedom to choose (another) service.
自由とは、行使して初めて自由と呼べるものだが。
Freedom is called freedom after the first time you use it(?)
I found much of the above difficult to parse, and I'm sure my misparsing of earlier sections probably made me misunderstand later ones.
If anyone one wants to take a shot at translating it or pointing out errors in my translation (or better ways of interpreting it), all (constructive) input is welcome