Breaking the Ice

 

 In May 1996, I was a graduate student. One day, I got the opportunity to work for an academic conference as a front desk clerk. Based on my experience, the job of a front desk clerk at a conference was easier than that of a theater clerk: We didn’t have to handle tickets or cash. We had a list of the conference participants. Then we would ask the guests for their names and check the list.

 It so happened that the girl next to me at the front desk was tremendously beautiful! Apparently, she was an undergraduate student. That was unusual as graduate students typically worked for the conference. If she was an undergraduate, perhaps she was not only beautiful but also highly intelligent. She had to be an excellent student or probably wanted to be a scholar. But she was not the talkative type, and I couldn’t be talkative, not with an attractive lady. So we worked silently. But I really wanted to break the ice.

 As I reviewed the list, I came across a surname that I didn’t know how to read. I had never seen such unusual surname before. A Japanese surname typically consists of two letters, like mine: Miura（三浦）. But that surname comprised four letters. I had never seen a four-letter surname before. That gave me an idea: I would ask her what the right way to read the surname was. I was sure most people couldn’t read it. So we would discuss its pronunciation. It could be a nice ice-breaker.

I asked, “Could you tell me how we pronounce this surname?”

She immediately answered, “I will handle this.” Then she stopped talking, and we were silent again.

 I could not understand why she reacted that way. Perhaps she figured out how to pronounce the surname immediately? She was an intelligent lady. But, if she had figured out what the answer was, why hadn’t she shared it with me?

　A few days later, I found out why she had reacted like that. The difficult surname was her father’s name. In those days, she was single. So it was also her surname. She was working for the conference because her father was a member of the association. Furthermore, he was the one of the most famous professors in the society. So it truly was shameful that I was a graduate student but didn’t know him and actually asked his daughter how to read their family name.

 Later, I saw her at university a few times, but I couldn’t say hello because I was too embarrassed.

 As for her father, the professor, he became even more famous as the years went by. Sometimes I watch him on TV now. He is one of the most influential people in Japan.

 Every time I see him on TV, I think to myself, “He might have been my father-in-law if I’d had more guts with his daughter.”

Photo by　xiangtao