TV Remote Control

 

My late father loved watching TV. He always watched news, baseball, and samurai drama. When Japanese television broadcasting had been digitalized in 2011, he didn’t like the new remote control because the buttons are too many, too small, and too complicated. If he pushed the wrong button, the TV just shut down or refused any other operation. He experienced difficulty moving his fingers because he had undergone kidney dialysis for over ten years. My father said, “They did the unnecessary.”

He started to hate digital TV itself. I looked for a new remote control online. I finally found the remote control for the elderly. It has only a few simple big buttons. He loved this.

After my father passed away, do we still need the remote control? Yes, we do. It is very easy to use. If you want to watch a satellite or cable channel, it is not useful. It can’t control any hard disk recorder. But if you want to watch terrestrial channels, it is easy. In a busy weekday morning, we want to quickly turn on the TV and change the channel. This is the best remote control ever.

Things these days have become too complex.

Taking out Trash

 

Terrible things happened in my life in 2007. My grandmother who lived with me passed away. My mother and my great-aunt were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the same time. My great-aunt didn’t have a child. After taking care of my grandmother for so long, I needed to look after two Alzheimer’s patients.

My mother and my great-aunt have difficulty taking out trash. In Nagoya City, where we live, there are strict rules about garbage disposal. We should separate and sort garbage as burnable, nonburnable, and recyclable. Trash collection depends on the day of week. If you take out the wrong trash on the wrong day, they refuse to collect. Even I forget or mistake the day. For Alzheimer’s patients, it is almost impossible to take out trash.

My mother and I lived together, so I took out the trash. But my-great aunt lived alone. Her house was full of trash. I visited her house every week to separate and sort the trash little by little. In summer, I put the bag of garbage in the refrigerator till collection day.

It was very difficult to make her take out trash. All had to be taken out by 8:00 a.m. It took me one and a half hours to get to my great-aunt’s house. I couldn’t visit her almost every morning, so I called her every day to remind her.

But it was not easy. Even if I called her, she could forget taking out the trash after hanging up. So I used to say, “Hi, Great-Aunt, today is collection day. I will wait till you take the trash out before hanging up. Please do it now.” Usually, she forgot I was still on the phone. I had to wait a very long time. But at least she could take out the trash.

The Nagoya city government is doing this complicated garbage collection system for recycling. Our slogan is “Be kind to the earth.” But this system is not kind to Alzheimer’s patients. How can we be a society that is kind to both?

Picture by makaron

Dinner with Mr. Tanaka

I had dinner with an old university friend. He made a restaurant reservation for us. We met in front of the restaurant and waited till it opened. He whispered to me, “I reserved as Mr. Tanaka to avoid inconvenience.” He is not Tanaka, which is a very common family name in Japan. I couldn’t understand why he had to use a false name. To avoid inconvenience? Then I finally understood why he did it.

His family name is very unusual. I have never met any other person or family with the same last name. When he first introduced himself to me, I couldn’t understand him. His family name is too unusual. I found out there are only about eighty people with the same family name in Japan. Only eighty? If his relatives were killed by someone three or four times, they would become extinct.

The people who met him for the first time, including me, always asked him, “Say it again?” “Is that your family name?” “How do I spell your name?” “Are you kidding?” He needed to answer these questions every time. It could be bothersome.

On the other hand, Tanaka is a very familiar family name. There are many Tanakas all around Japan, like the prime minister. Everyone can recognize it immediately. Moreover, its letters are easy to write, 田中. Even a first-grader can spell it. He loves to use “Tanaka” because it is the most popular and simplest family name. Tanaka is what he always wants to be.

My family name is Miura, which is also common. I have longed for an unusual one. But if I had an extremely rare name like him, it would be bothersome.

Picture by mounel