甘さと厳しさ さて？
会長職とはいえ毎日出勤はしている。ただ、以前とは違い、朝は10時とか11時の出勤。しかし、夕方は６時までで実働６時間といったところ。
と云う事で、今朝も１０時ごろの電車に乗った。そこそこ混んでいて座席はほぼ埋まっていた。でも僕は一応座れた。次の駅で乗ってきたのが、若いお母さんの子供連れ。母親は強し、３歳くらいの女の子と１歳位の幼い子をバギーに乗せ、手には大きな荷物。ところが、乗るやいなや３歳くらいの子供が、「すわりたかったのに・・・、すわりたかったのに・・・」と泣き出した。すると、近くに座っていたおばちゃんが、「優しく・・どうぞ・・」と云って席を譲った。直ぐに子供は機嫌を直し、おばちゃんが座っていた席に腰掛けニコニコ顔。
次の駅で今度は８０歳半ば位の老夫婦が乗ってきた。すると、ドア近くに座っていた人が一人スッと席を譲った。すると老婆が「ありがとうございます」と丁寧に礼を云い座った。隣の人は？とみるに、全く動く気配なし。僕は真ん中位に座っていたが、黙って席を立った、すると老父が其処に座った。
ただ其れだけのことであるが、僕には少しひかかりがあった。３歳くらいの子供、ちょうど物心がつき始める時期。三つ子の魂百までともいう。泣いて席を譲ってもらい、ニコニコ顔。当然の事ながら、子供には何の悪気も無い。でも・・本当にこれでいいのか・・・？。
老夫婦に関しては、まーこんなものか。別に二人並んで座ることもないと思うし。
そういえば、思い出した。既に４年程も前のこと。女房と２人、京都行きの電車に乗った。座席はほぼ埋まっていたので、僕は車両中央に立ちつり革を持った。すると目の前に座っていた１５・６歳の髪を赤茶色に染めた、ひと目で超ヤンキーといった感じの女の子がスッと席を立ち、僕に向かって「どうぞ・・」という。戸惑ったのなんの・・、とっさに「ありがとう」とはいったが、ショックで体が直ぐに反応せず、女房に、「お前座らせてもらえ」と声をかけ、事なきを得たが・・。
ついでにもう一つの社内風景。最近の電車は５人かけシートに４人、１０人かけシートに８人というのが極普通。立っている人が何人いようがほぼ関係なし。少し詰めて座らせようという事は先ずしない。どうも隣の人と接するのがイヤらしい。座れるのにと思って、少し席を詰めようとすると極端に嫌な態度をとられる・・。大半はスマホに夢中で、周囲の混雑など全く気にしていない様子。
なんか、最近こんな社内風景が結構気になりだした。最近の若者は・・などと云いたくはないが、こんな事が気になるのも、もしかしたら歳なのかな・・・。
Even though he is the chairman of the company, he goes to work every day. However, unlike before, I go to work at 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning. However, the evenings are until 6:00 p.m. and we work 6 hours a day.
That’s why I took the train at about 10:00 this morning. It was pretty crowded and the seats were almost full. But I was able to sit down at least once. At the next station, a young mother with her child boarded the train. The mother was strong, with a girl about three years old and a young child about one year old in the buggy, and a big load in her hands. However, as soon as I got on, a child of about 3 years old started crying, “I wanted to sit down…, I wanted to sit down… Auntie, who was sitting near me, said, “Please,” and gave up her seat. Immediately the child changed his mood and sat down on the seat where the auntie was sitting and smiled.
At the next station, this time an elderly couple in their mid-eighties got on. Then, one of the people who was sitting near the door gave up his seat without a second thought. The old woman said, “Thank you very much,” and sat down. What about the neighbors? However, there is no sign of movement at all. I sat down in the middle of the table, but I left without saying a word, and then my old man took his place.
I was a child of about three years old, just starting to learn how to do things. It is also called the soul of triplets to a hundred. She cried and gave up her seat, smiling. Naturally, there is no offense to the child. But… are you sure this is the right thing to do?
As for the elderly couple, well, that’s about it. I don’t think there are two people sitting side by side.
Speaking of which, I remembered. It was already about four years ago. My wife and I took the train to Kyoto. The seat was almost full, so I held the leather in the center of the carriage. Then, a girl sitting in front of me with 15.6 years old hair dyed reddish brown, who looked like a super Yankee at first glance, quickly got up from her seat and said to me, “Come in…”. I was perplexed, I said “Thank you” immediately, but my body didn’t react immediately because of the shock, and I called out to my wife, “Let me sit you down”, and there was nothing to worry about.
And now, another view of the company. These days, it’s very common to have four people in a five-seat train and eight people in a 10-seat train. It almost doesn’t matter how many people are standing there. We don’t try to make them sit down a little packed. Apparently he doesn’t like dealing with the people next to him. If you try to sit down and try to squeeze into the seat a little bit, you will be treated in an extremely nasty way… Most of them are so absorbed in their smartphones that they don’t seem to care about the crowds around them at all.
Lately, I’ve been wondering about this kind of company scenery. I don’t want to say that young people nowadays…but maybe I’m too old to be concerned about such things…
