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サラリーマンはつらいよ
過去30年、日本の社会は猛スピードで変化を遂げてきた。
しかしそのスピードに追いつくことができず、ますます苦境に追い込まれている人たちがいる——
それは、「出る杭」になることを良しとせず、ひたすら謙そんの美徳を奉ってきた。
日本の企業社会を支えるサラリーマンなのである。
It's tough being a salaryman
The streets are thronged with rookie salarymen in their spanking-new suits. Everyone looks fresh and newly scrubbed, in the manner of that old commercial: Pika pika no ichinensei (bright, glittering first-year rookie). Now, a few reflections on the changing state of the Japanese salaryman:
There was a time when being a run-of-the-mill salaryman was perfectly acceptable if not wholeheartedly commendable. The term futsu no salaryman struck a delicate balance between mock self-deprecation and a certain confidence. It indicated a sense of belonging to the main ranks of, and being protected by, Japanese society. Until about 10 years ago salarymen knew how to coast through life on the adage: The nail that sticks out is the nail that gets hit. They did not need to prove their personal worth.
Now such unobtrusiveness is considered uncool, clueless or plain middle-aged. Now it's good to stick out, and the more hitting you get the stronger you supposedly become. Plus, you're also expected to have a great and likable personality, to be scintillating, interesting, individualistic and other traits heretofore unheard of in the salaryman vocabulary.
If the workplace has gotten tougher, things are hardly better at home. The demands to update salarymen have accelerated. The old operating system does not do.
I remember how my father would come home, sit down with the paper and occasionally say things like: "Hmm, so the prime minister may go to China'' or "I'll have another beer'' without bothering to look at my mother. This was OK by her. She was married to a steady, reliable, hard-working salaryman who preferred to drink his beer at home than elsewhere. What more could she ask for? Now, if a husband did the same thing, it would be grounds for divorce. At the very least, he would have to get his own beer.
The truth is that society changed too fast in the past 30 years for the salaryman to adjust. Meanwhile, other segments of the population, like working women and young people, haven't had that problem. It's just not enough anymore for the salaryman to work 12-hour days, commute on crammed trains for three hours, and hone the art of modesty. It's not OK for him to be boring at home.
Call me antiquated but I think I speak for many with this remark: Give me a break!
- tough
- 厳しい、きつい
- 〜 are thronged with 〜
- 〜には〜がどっと繰り出す
- scrubbed
- ピカピカの
- in the manner of 〜
- 〜のように
- glittering
- 光り輝く
- reflections
- 考察
- run-of-the-mill
- ごく平凡な
- wholeheartedly
- 心から
- commendable
- 称賛に値する
- struck a delicate balance between 〜 and 〜
- 〜と〜の間の微妙なバランスを保った
- mock
- 表向きの
- self-deprecation
- 自己非難
- indicated
- 示した
- sense of belonging
- 帰属意識
- main ranks
- 主たる階層
- coast
- 楽に進む
- on the adage
- 格言に則って
- The nail that sticks out is the nail that gets hit
- 出る杭は打たれる
- unobtrusiveness
- 控えめなこと
- uncool
- 格好悪い
- clueless
- 頭が鈍い
- middle-aged
- おじさん臭い
- stick out
- 目立つ
- great
- 卓越した
- likable
- 感じのいい
- scintillating
- 機知に富む
- traits
- 特徴
- heretofore
- 今までは
- update
- 最新のものにする
- operating system
- 基本ソフト
- paper
- 新聞
- without bothering to 〜
- わざわざ〜せずに
- What more could she ask for?
- これ以上彼女は何を求めることができただろう?
- grounds
- 理由
- The truth is that 〜
- 実は〜なのだ
- adjust
- 適応する
- It's just not enough anymore for the salaryman to 〜
- サラリーマンが〜しても、それだけではもうよしとはされなくなったのだ
- commute on 〜
- 〜で通勤する
- crammed trains
- 満員電車
- hone
- 磨く
- art of modesty
- 謙そんのテクニック
- boring
- 退屈させる
- Call me antiquated
- 私のことを時代遅れだと言ってもよい
- speak for 〜
- 〜を代弁する
- remark
- コメント
- Give me a break!
- 勘弁してくれ