RANT 'N' RAVE
Grown pains
As an Englishman, I am all too familiar
with the loutish and unsavory behavior of the youth population. How nice it was therefore
to come to a country where manners are still a cultural asset. And on the whole, my
assumptions have been pleasantly realized. Indeed, Japan may not realize it, but it is
blessed with a population that is relatively well-behaved and quietly goes about its own
business. Or so I thought until I witnessed the hooligan behavior of middle-aged
salarymen.
These are the yobs of Japan. Each day I see the socially maladjusted exploits of salarymen
on the crowded trains and in the streets of Tokyo. They stride around with an air of
indifferent arrogance and a look that makes us feel like trespassers in their
neighborhood.
They are the ones chewing gum, spitting over railway platforms, emitting loud unrestrained
yawns in public, and voicing their relief in lavatories. They hang from those hand hoops
inside trains, their feet barely touching the ground, gyrating in front of those who
thought they had the fortune of being seated, glaring at foreigners with their sunken
hangover eyes and secretly groping shy-looking women. Their teenage mentality continues as
they delve into their briefcases to bring out newspaper centerfolds or the latest cartoon
magazine so that they can flick quickly through colorful pictures.
All the time I watch comparing them to the smart, tidy twenty-somethings who are reading
literature and studying their English language and computing notes. I then see the
thirty-somethings and already the signs of transition are there. By now, they are reading
the sports pages, their suits are creased, the belly is growing, they're losing height,
and they've started to slouch. The tie is looser and that air of contempt is brewing
nicely, like the green tea they'll be slurping at the office.
Late at night, salarymen can be seen herding together in drunken gangs, staggering and
urinating in public and calling over to office ladies who hurry home. I have even
witnessed a couple of youths throwing brawling salarymen off the train onto the platform
giving us all a welcome respite from their slurred abuse.
So what causes this dysfunctional behavior? Do they come from broken homes or are their
parents violent or neglectful to them? Are they high school dropouts? Perhaps the victims
of inadequacies in the city's social infrastructure? I can see no answer, just my
misguided hope that this is a generation and not culture. Then again, I suppose every
country has its hooligan element. Boys will be boys.
Many thanks to reader Chris Rose for this Rant. |
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