Bingo

 

 

 Before the pandemic, every week, I visited the nursing home where my mother lived. My mother has Alzheimer’s disease.

 One day, when I visited the nursing home, they were playing bingo, but I was surprised to find that the atmosphere was totally different from that of the usual bingo game. No one was greedy.

 At that time, it was already difficult to communicate with my mother. She put the bingo sheet on her table. Even though her number had been called, she didn’t react. I checked her sheet. She had won bingo, but she was not interested in it. Half of the participants were almost the same as my mother.

 The caregivers supported them every time a new number was picked up. I was filled with gratitude for the caregivers. They were busy just taking care of the patients. Even more, they were trying to amuse the patients.

 I just want to find a simple game that even Alzheimer’s disease patients can enjoy.

Picture by RetroClipArt

Liu Bei

 

 Liu Bei is an ancient Chinese hero. He was a smart person who lived in a very competitive world. His rival was a cruel person who suspected that Liu Bei would be his biggest enemy in the future. He started to think about killing Liu Bei. Liu Bei realized this and started to act like a stupid person. He intentionally showed and grew out his nose hair every day. The rival changed his mind, and Liu Bei survived.

When I was in my thirties, I was a part-time actor. I participated in a performance wherein the other actors were younger than me. They showed respect to me as an experienced actor. I was impressed that the younger actors were very polite.

One day, during rehearsal break, I looked into the mirror in the restroom and found a shocking fact: my nose hair was fully out. This meant that I had recited my cool and beautiful lines with my nose hair fully out during the rehearsal.

I returned to the rehearsal room and said to my co-actors, “Hey, guys! How could you? If you saw my nose hair out, please inform me!”

 One of the co-actors answered, “Oh! We assumed you intentionally did that.”

 I said, “Am I Liu Bei?”

 They hadn’t meant it. If an elder person has his nose hair showing, I would hesitate to point it out.

 Dear friends, if you meet me and find my nose hair showing, please let me know secretly. I am not a great person who might be killed because of my own intelligence.

 I experienced an anecdote of the ancient hero. I can’t live with having my nose hair out every day.

 Kudos to Liu Bei, and kudos again!

Picture by moj0j0

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Just Two of Us on the Poolside

 

 

 In my city, there are many indoor heated swimming pools. Some of them are run by the city government. I used to swim in one of the pools for exercise.

 There was a rule in the pool. Once an hour, we had to get out of the water. The sound of radio gymnastics started. The lifeguards started their exercise. We couldn’t swim during the radio gymnastics. There was no rule that all swimmers needed to exercise together, but the children exercised and were obedient. Most adults, including me, sat down on a bench and relaxed. In my days, Japanese schools really let children participate in radio gymnastics many times. We were tired of it.

 But I experienced occasions where I needed to exercise with radio gymnastics.

 The pool was open until 8:30 p.m. I sometimes swam in the nighttime during winter. It was an indoor heated pool. But a few people were there on winter nights. Sometimes I was the only swimmer in the pool. Only two of us were on the poolside: a lifeguard and me. Maybe they had a strict rule. They had to perform radio gymnastics once an hour. Even if I was the only one there.

 If there were many swimmers, I could ignore the lifeguards. But I couldn’t ignore them because we were alone. So I did radio gymnastics with a lifeguard when there were a few swimmers.

 One winter night, when a lifeguard and I were alone, radio gymnastics began. I felt the need to urinate and went to the restroom. When I returned from the restroom, I witnessed a shocking scene: The sound of the radio gymnastics was on, but the lifeguard didn’t exercise. He was sitting on a bench and relaxing. When he saw me, he hastily started the radio gymnastics. Maybe he assumed I had gone home. He recognized I returned. He needed to perform radio gymnastics.

 I did the radio gymnastics because I cared for the lifeguards. The lifeguards did it because I was there.

 What kind of charade is this?

Picture by nora

Grim Face

 

 I was a part-time actor. I know some professional actors, but most of my friends are part-time actors. They had to have other actual jobs for a living.

 I know an actress who was working for a first-class company as a full-time worker. In my impression, she was always smiling. She was a mild-mannered person.

 One weekday afternoon, I saw her in a subway car. She was reading some documents. I approached her to say hello but decided against it, as she looked really focused on the documents. Her face was so grim as if I couldn’t recognize the same person.

 I thought being an actress and being a full-time worker for a first-class company were very hard. During work time, she needed to really concentrate on her job.

 Afterward, I met her at a theater. She was the smiling person I knew. I realized the smiling face was really valuable. I didn’t mention that I had seen her in the subway.

 To be a smiling person, we sometimes need to have a grim face.

Picture by a.otsuka

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Stupid people don't catch colds?

 

 

This is a Japanese saying. It is a classic joke. We say this when someone catches a cold to comfort them:  “You have caught a cold. It proves you are not stupid.”

 

However, I recently started taking this saying seriously. I suspect clever people are more likely to catch colds.

 

Stupid people don’t think about complex things. They always listen to the voices in their body. Is it cold or hot? Am I hungry or not? Am I tired or not? Am I sleepy or not? Listening to these voices from own body might be an important ability to avoid catching a cold.

 

Clever people have to think about many things. Will this cause trouble or not? Do people hate me or not? Will the boss scold me or not? Does it make me a loser or not? Will I make or lose profit? Do I look stupid or not? They need to think too much. It causes them to overwork.

 

Even in a situation like this: “If I don’t finish this work till the next morning, it will destroy the human race,” a stupid person will sleep when the person feels sleepy.  The stupid person never thinks about complex things.

 

This thinking style might be a stupidness we should learn. We don’t want to be destroyed by a stupid person. But does any work, even if we realize it is serious, have enough value to justify ignoring the voices from our body?  

 

If you see a person who catches a cold, please take good care of that person. The person might think too much. The person might ignore the voice from their own body. The person might overwork. You should pray for the person secretly: “be stupider!”

Picture by Toshiro Kiritani

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Forbidden Rock

 

When I was a junior high school student, I was a member of the broadcasting club. We would air music and speeches during lunchtime. What we broadcasted depended on students’ requests. Sometimes I aired my favorite music. 

 

There was a strict rule about school broadcasting: no rock music. We could broadcast any kind of music except rock music.

 

I asked the adviser of the club, “Why is rock music not allowed?” The adviser answered, “If we broadcast rock music, all of the students will start to dance. It will cause a big problem.”

 

I couldn’t understand. Even if we broadcasted rock music, I couldn’t imagine my schoolmates starting to dance.

 

I think back on that memory these days. It makes me laugh. There was a generation who loved rock music very much. Maybe they couldn’t help dancing anytime they heard rock music.  But they are older than my generation. We like rock music. But we don’t have such enthusiasm for rock music.

 

At that time, the rock music generation had already graduated from our school. But the school rule remained.

 

I envy that generation. I don’t have any music that will make me want to dance in any situation.

 

Freddie Mercury said: “I won’t be a rock star. I will be a legend.” He was right. They, including my senior students, are not rock stars. They are legends.

Picture by studiostoks

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Key Person

 

 When we built our new house, there was a big problem.

 We found out my father couldn’t unlock the entrance door. There was no problem in the new entrance door. My father’s fingers were just too weak to unlock the lock. My father had artificial dialysis for years, and that made his fingers very weak. He could put the key in the lock, but he didn’t have enough power to turn the key. The door and lock were new. Putting oil didn’t help.

 If he couldn’t open the entrance door, the key and lock were useless. Furthermore, the new house was meaningless.

 We talked to the carpenter. He said, “I will find a way in a few days.” But I couldn’t wait for him. I researched on the Internet. I called a nationwide key trouble company. They said there was no solution.

 There was very old key shop near our house. I had nothing to lose by asking the shop, so I visited it. A very old shopkeeper listened to our problem. He picked up a piece of iron and fixed the key and the iron. He made the key’s handle bigger. That made a sense! He used the principle of leverage. The processed key worked. We made it. My father finally unlocked our entrance door.

 The next day, the carpenter came to our house with another fixed key that also used the principle of leverage, but the handle of the key was as big as a softball. It was too big. My father couldn’t put it in his pocket.

We had to ask a specialist. The carpenter was also a specialist, but he usually made bigger things, so his product was too big.

 Today, these small shops are disappearing. People buy goods in huge shopping malls or online. Sometimes we need a small idea from an experienced specialist. In the near future, they might not be in our neighborhood anymore.

Picture by patrimonio

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