Hit Home Run! Mr. Slugger!

 

Around 1990, I was a university student in Nagoya. I had a part-time job as a vendor in a ballpark. I sold liquor and snacks. I called, “Sake and snacks! Sake and snacks!”

I walked around the spectators. I was a young man, so I didn’t care about the weight of the goods or the difficulty of climbing up and down the steps.

By the way, I was a drama club member when I was in high school. Generally, members in a high school drama club work on vocal exercises a lot because we perform plays in huge gymnasiums. Hence, my voice is louder than the other vendors’.

One day, one old gentleman showed me a Japanese big boy (a 10,000-yen bill, almost 100 US dollars) and said, “If the slugger in the batter’s box now hits home run, I will buy all of the goods you have. You can keep the change!”

I was very excited. Even if I sold all the goods I had, it was far less than 100 US dollars. My daily wage was less than 100 US dollars, so it could be a big bonus. The old gentleman wanted me to cheer the slugger with my well-trained voice.

“Mr. Ochiai! Hit home run!”

The slugger’s name was Ochiai. He was one of the best sluggers in Japanese baseball history. Unfortunately, he made an out in an RBI situation.

Was my cheer too weak?

Anyway, I didn’t get the big boy, so I went back to my usual business. If Ochiai hit a home run, the old gentleman might buy all the goods I had, then he might give the goods to the other spectators. What a cool gentleman!

If you are a rich baseball fan, why don’t you try to enjoy watching a game this way?

However, even a legendary slugger might still not hit a home run in an RBI situation.

 

Picture by Palto

Business-Mind

 

In the center of downtown Nagoya, I built a huge building called “NHK Building.” There are twenty-four floors above ground level and four floors underground.

Of course, I am exaggerating.

I just worked at the building site as a part-timer during the summer of 1991. I didn’t exactly build the building, but I brought some materials and tightened some bolts. In a way, I “built” some parts of it.

Nowadays, site operators are very cautious about heatstroke, so they provide water to all workers in the site. But during those days, we just brought or bought drinks for ourselves.

I was a student, a nonskilled part-time worker. Other workers ordered me to buy canned drinks during break time. In those days, there were few convenience stores, so I had to buy drinks at vending machines. But the building was so huge that many workers worked at the same site. Those were hot summer days, so everyone bought drinks from vending machines around the site, emptying most of them; I needed to walk far to find a working one. But even if I could find one, its drinks were not chilled. Other workers complained to me, “You are too late, and this drink is not cold!”

It was a tough job.

Recently, I started to think that I wasn’t business-minded, and I missed a great chance. I should have just quitted the part-time job and started a business in front of the building site where I could sell cold drinks to a hundred thirsty workers. I wish I had done that; I could have gotten more money than my part-time job.

Well, it is no use crying over spilled milk.

 

Economic Facility or Expensive Facility?

 My mother needs 24-hour-care every day. My wife and I can’t provide all of that, so we use temporary short-stay facilities for the elderly.

 There are various kinds of facilities for short stays. To divide them simply, there are economic facilities and expensive facilities. From my point of view, there are more caregivers in the expensive facilities. Expensive facilities can hire semi-professional entertainers for recreation. The meals in expensive facilities are more elaborate.

 I assumed that these differences wouldn’t affect my mother because she has Alzheimer’s disease. But I was wrong.

 When she comes back from the expensive facility, she is in a good mood. Basically, she is humming to herself. When she comes back from the economic facility, she looks depressed.

 Alzheimer’s disease patients have difficulty remembering things, but they do still have feelings. If a patient is cared for by well-paid caregivers in an expensive facility, the patient feels good and is in a good mood. That can reduce the burdens on his or her family. We should say that the expensive facilities are better. We should use the expensive facilities. But it is not that simple.

 The expensive facility we use is very popular. We need to make a reservation about one month in advance. The economic facility can accept my mother the same day. We need to maintain a good relationship with the economic facility for emergencies.

 Of course, we have financial problems. No one knows how long my mother will live. It is said that the life expectancy of Alzheimer’s disease patients is ten years. But the ten years passed a few years ago. Doctors have never found any problems with my mother’s medical condition except for Alzheimer’s disease. If we keep spending many on the expensive facility, we could be bankrupt in a few more years.

 This could be one of the reasons why the salaries for caregiving workers are very low. No one can predict ageing and death.

 When I get old, of course I want to live in an expensive facility. I want to enjoy the final term in my life. But if I live a longer life than I expected, I will be bankrupt. If I am old but have no money, what should I do?

 For a while, we will use the expensive facility for my mother. That might improve caregivers’ working conditions. And, most importantly, it makes my mother happy.

 

Picture by Aqua

Actors’ Eligibility for Election

Julius Caesar was a commander and a politician in ancient Rome. When he was young, he thought he might be a playwright. He was a theatrical person.

However, when he held the actual power of Rome, he made an anti-theatrical decision. He banned actors from running in the election.

 Now, it is difficult to us to understand why he did that.

 In the modern world that we live in, theatrical actors are artists or strange people who live in an almost non-profitable world.

 But please try to picture the ancient world, without any Internet, TVs, movies, or radios. The literacy rate was very low. And there was no technology for publications. From that perspective, theater could be the most powerful “media.” We can’t even imagine how strong an influence it had.

 Theatrical actors were popular people in the “media.” Julius Caesar banned the popular people in the “media” from running in the election and becoming political leaders. It is possible that he decided this because he was a theatrical person.

Of course, in our society, no one is banned from running in elections because of their occupation. In modern history, we can find many politicians who are popular people in various forms of media, whether the popularity is good or bad.

 Or, maybe we are being challenged by the ancient hero.

 Should popular people in media be political leaders?

Was Julius Caesar right? Or are we right?

 

Photo by UMC

The meals in the hospital

 

 A few years ago, I was in a hospital for a few months.

 I had many opportunities to talk with various patients in the hospital. Our main topic of discussion was the meals in the hospital. We always said negative things about the meals. Generally, a life in a hospital is full of complaints. Maybe we just wanted to have something to blame.

 One patient who was an ex-con said, “The meals in detention cells were better than the meals in this hospital!”

I assumed that this was a joke, but when I researched detention cells in Japanese police stations, I found that the ex-con’s testimony could be true.

 The cost of a meal in the hospital was less than three US dollars. The cost of a meal in a detention cell in this area was about four US dollars. A difference of one US dollar could be drastic. Detention cells are not prisons. People in detention cells have not yet been found guilty. So, they can eat better meals than patients in a hospital.

 Anyway, I said many negative things about the meals in the hospital, but now I regret saying so much. I wouldn’t be able to cook those meals with less than three US dollars. I appreciate the cooks in the kitchen. Thank you!

 I just hope that I never stay in any hospital again.

 

Picture by Murakumo

Escorting the City Mayor

 

 At the beginning of the 1990s, I was a university student. I had a part-time job as an actor. Was I a real actor? No, I was acting in costume as a mascot so my face was covered. But acting in costumes was very interesting. It required a skilled technique. I worked very hard as a masked actor.

 One day, I was offered a job at an opening ceremony of a station shopping mall complex in T-city. When I received the timetable of the ceremony, automatically I looked for the climax of the show where I would act.

The timetable said:

“The city mayor says a word of congratulations on the stage. The mascot escorts him to the stage.”

This had to be the climax. In those days, mayors had dignity. They were local celebrities. They were not friendly types. But mascots could act in a friendly way with them. It was good for a mayor’s popularity. I planned to be very friendly to the mayor but not harm his dignity. It could be an interesting performance.

 On the day of the performance, I arrived at the venue too early because I was too eager. I entered a coffee shop to kill time. Then I read a newspaper of the day. The newspaper said:

“The mayor of T-city has been arrested for corruption.”

The mayor whom I supposed to escort had been arrested the day before! My acting plans were all in vain.

When we gathered at the venue, the director briefly announced to us that “the mayor has cancelled the event”. He didn’t explain why.

 At that time, the mayor was probably being escorted by policemen instead of me.

 

Picture by sayz

Julius Caesar was a script writer?

 

 I have been reading books about ancient Rome recently.

 Julius Caesar was a soldier and a politician in ancient Rome. But he was also an incredible writer. We can buy his works, “Commentaii de Bello Gallico” and “Commentarii de Bello Civili”, in book stores. His works have not lost their commercial value for two thousand years. Of course you can buy Japanese versions in Japan. He must be one of the most outstanding writers in history.

 According to a book I read, he was a late bloomer as a soldier and as a politician. He started his historical career when he was over forty years old. During his twenties and thirties he was just a famous playboy. And apparently he wrote some scripts for the stage. He loved the theater.

 “And you too, Brutus?”

He was assassinated when he was fifty-five years old. At that time his love letters and scripts were published and people could read them. But his achievements as a soldier and a politician took precedence.

 His heir was Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. He deified Julius because his accomplishments were so great. Augustus banned the publication of Julius’s love letters and scripts because they would have compromised his deification since they were inappropriate. Unfortunately, Augustus lived a long life. His was a long and stable administration. The subsequent emperors maintained his stance towards the scripts. Regrettably, the scripts written by Julius Caesar have been lost.

 The lost scripts could be more interesting than “Julius Caesar” which was written by William Shakespeare who was younger than Julius Caesar by one thousand six hundred years. I want to read the scripts. I want to perform the scripts! Don’t you?

 Unfortunately for Julius Caesar the playwright, he was too great as a soldier and as a politician.

 My dear friends, theatrical people! If you are a theatrical person, you shouldn’t be a soldier or a politician. You will definitely achieve great things like Julius Caesar. Then somebody will eliminate your achievements as a theatrical person.

 

Picture by Ceakus