Debate

 First of all, I don’t like debate very much. Even when you beat a competitor in a debate, he or she does not change his or her mind. In my opinion, he or she simply develops hard feelings after the debate. I am convinced that no one except politicians enjoys debating.

 When I was a graduate student at university, a professor from the debate club of a famous university would allow us to debate in his class. One day, I let slip that I was paying a subscription fee to NHK.

 NHK is the Japanese public TV broadcaster and insists that, if you have a TV in Japan, you must pay the subscription fee. But it is a somewhat controversial topic. Some people argue that there is no reason to pay NHK.

 In those days, I lived by myself and was not well off. But I still paid the NHK subscription fee every month. When my professor heard this, he scolded me and gave me homework: “When the NHK collector next comes to your house, you must debate him or her. You have to turn him or her away at the door.”

I don’t know whether the professor was for or against paying the subscription fee to NHK. I suspect he just thought that I should not miss the opportunity to debate with a mature adult.

 I studied the arguments regarding paying the subscription fee to NHK. It was an interesting topic. I prepared hard for it. Then I waited for the NHK collector to show up.

 The NHK collector finally came to my house. He was a middle-aged man. I opened the door. Then I took a deep breath so that I could begin debating him. But, as I inhaled, I realized the battle was lost. He had terrible breath. Debate? No way! I gave him the money and let him go.

 I had read many books and simulated many arguments, but his bad breath blew all my preparations away: No one could debate without breathing.

 Now that I am a middle-aged man, I really should take care of my breath.

 

Picture by Lightsource