Record by George Crouch

Tag: Work Place

  • Puchiko’s Long Winter Break and My Final Mission of the Year

    Puchiko’s Long Winter Break and My Final Mission of the Year

    Once Puchiko gets into bed, her venting begins. Usually, that wouldn’t be a problem. However, lately, she has started talking to me openly and boldly. Not many people have an imaginary friend, and talking to one out loud looks strange—to anyone else, it just looks like she’s talking to herself. I really need to admonish her soon. This might be my final mission of the year, but it also intertwines with Puchiko’s Long Winter Break and My Final Mission of the Year.

    This was Puchiko’s year. She was born in the Year of the Snake, making her the “woman of the year”. But that will end in just a few days as we welcome the Year of the Horse next year.

    Puchiko usually works staggered hours, finishing at 4:30 PM, but yesterday she finished at 3:15 PM. Winter break is almost here. Her break is long—from December 25th to January 6th. She originally thought about taking January 7th off as well, but since she needs to save her paid leave for a trip to Belgium in March (to use them up before the Japanese fiscal year ends in March), she decided to work on the 7th. Her current workplace is very flexible and easygoing. Most regular employees stay off from December 25th until January 7th. I think it’s because the organization is run somewhat like a school. This winter break is significant, marking Puchiko’s Long Winter Break and My Final Mission of the Year.

    On the way home, Puchiko muttered, “After tomorrow, I’m on break. This is the last time I’ll get to feel this sense of liberation. From next April, winter break will only be from December 29th to January 3rd. I can’t stand it! I mean, in my current job, I have stress, but it’s the kind I can manage. Don’t you think it’s blissful to have this much time off in the middle of that? But where I’m going next, there will probably be people who are impossible to reason with. I’ll be yelled at, face sexual harassment, or deal with ‘customer harassment.’ And yet, I’ll have fewer holidays than I do now! I can’t deal with this! I hate it!”

    Anyone reading this is probably thinking, “Stop acting so spoiled.” This sentiment would likely draw a lot of backlash, especially from other Japanese people. I feel like saying the same thing to her, but Puchiko has been soaking in the “hot spring” of this relaxed workplace for over 5 years. The gap between her current environment and a typical workplace is huge, and I realize it’s going to be tough for her—though it hasn’t even started yet.

    I don’t mind her venting to me like this. Listening is part of my role as her imaginary friend. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, the more Puchiko establishes my existence, the more naturally she talks to me anywhere. When she first created me, she would only whisper when no one was around. Now, she talks to me while walking through the city or in the hallways at work. To an outsider, she looks like someone who talks to herself a lot. Actually, it might be worse than that. Since she often asks for my agreement, people must wonder, “Who is she talking to?” When she says things like, “Hey! Look at that! What do you think, Jōji?”, it makes me break into a cold sweat. Talking to me seems to drastically reduce her stress, but I wish she would just talk to me in her head instead of out loud. I need to make sure she doesn’t do this at her new job.

    Then, there’s what happened on the way home today. Just as Puchiko finished work and started walking, she heard a voice from behind. Her boss, the section manager, came running after her. He handed her a gift of sweets. It was to congratulate her on being hired for her next job, and since it was Christmas Eve, it served as a Christmas present too. “You don’t need to give me anything in return,” he said. (This is where Japanese social cues get difficult. Usually, when Japanese people give gifts or souvenirs, they say things like “No need to return the favor” or “Don’t worry about it.” But you shouldn’t always take those words literally. If you don’t return the favor, they might think, “Oh, they didn’t give me anything back? How rude.” In the case of this manager, I think he truly isn’t expecting anything—though Puchiko will give him something anyway. In Japanese society, it is a basic rule: if you receive something, you give something back.) The manager also told her, “It’s a loss for us, but congratulations.” It really warmed her heart.

    Needless to say, I was relieved. Usually, Puchiko starts talking to me the moment she leaves. It was a lucky coincidence that she was walking in silence today, so the manager didn’t catch her talking to thin air. She must have felt relieved too.

    On the way to the station, Puchiko was deeply reflecting on the manager’s kindness. For about 20 minutes, she kept muttering, “He’s such a good person. Jōji, the manager is such a good man,” and “I need to become a person like that,” and “He’s such a kind, wonderful boss.” Thanks to that, she spent the whole walk home saying unusually positive and gentle things. Being so close to her, I sincerely wish her mind could always be filled with this much peace and order.

    Postscript:

    This is a memo Puchiko stuck on her computer at work. It's well-drawn, isn't it? Since next year is the Year of the Horse, I think it’s a drawing of her riding a horse. The speech bubble says, "Off from December 25th to January 6th," and at the bottom, it says, "Have a great year. And Happy New Year."
    This is a memo Puchiko stuck on her computer at work. It’s well-drawn, isn’t it? Since next year is the Year of the Horse, I think it’s a drawing of her riding a horse. The speech bubble says, “Off from December 25th to January 6th,” and at the bottom, it says, “Have a great year. And Happy New Year.”

  • 【Settling the Past】The Stress and Wall of Verification Documents Attacking Puchiko Behind the Scenes of Her New Job

    The morning has been tough.

    This is because yesterday, a complete set of required pre-employment documents arrived from the workplace where Puchiko was recently hired. Among the papers, she needed to submit her university graduation certificate and academic transcript, as well as the completion certificate and transcript from the vocational school she attended to obtain her current qualification. Just applying for these documents costs a decent amount of money, which was already discouraging, but then she discovered something else.

    Although Puchiko listed all her previous jobs on her resume, she now has to ask every single one of those past workplaces to fill out a form verifying her employment for the stated period.

    For Puchiko, who is bad at changing jobs, this is incredibly disheartening. She was yelling this morning: “I don’t want to do this!” “It’s too much trouble!” “Why do I have to do job-like things when I’m supposed to be at home?” “I hate this already!” She completely lost it. I kept telling her, “Calm down, calm down.”

    The reason Puchiko became so frantic is that one of those past workplaces is a place she quit after only three months. The supervisor would take her notebook from her bag and secretly make copies, force her to stay two hours late to listen to his boring stories, and that wasn’t all. He told her things like, “If you get a boyfriend, you have to tell me first.” She was fed up with that kind of sexual harassment. When she started keeping her distance, he moved on to power harassment, saying things like, “I’ll make you a part-timer,” or “You have a disability.” Because she wouldn’t bend to his will, even though she was a full-time employee, she was suddenly told, “Starting next month, you will be a part-timer.” When she angrily asked the supervisors, “What does this mean?” they told her, “Watch your mouth.” Then, a termination notice arrived. They unfairly fabricated lies, calling her disabled and claiming she had almost injured a client at work.

    Puchiko resigned after 3 months and initiated a labor tribunal. She successfully received a settlement payment from them, and she used that money to go to vocational school and get her qualification. Infuriating, isn’t it?

    So, isn’t it cruel to ask such a place to write a “certificate of employment” for her? I wish I could ask them for her instead. She was saying, “So this is the kind of hurdle that awaits you, not just an exam, just to get a job.” I thought to myself, “If you have to go through all this to get in, I truly hope they provide a great working environment.”

    Puchiko has sent a request letter, complete with a stamped, self-addressed envelope, to all her previous workplaces. Given the nature of that strange workplace, I am deeply worried that her letter will be ignored or that they might write something detrimental to her. Although she doesn’t voice it, she seems worried too.

    Additional note : When night came …

    “Still, I can’t keep being afraid myself.” Puchiko was hugging the plush toy I was possessing while lying in bed, and she said, sounding distressed, “Even after ten years, they might still try to mess with me.” I replied, “It’s going to be okay.”

    Then she got angry and shot back, “Don’t say ‘it’s going to be okay’ so easily! You can only say that because it doesn’t affect you personally, Jōji.” 

    I answered, “Puchiko, your ‘not okay’ is my ‘not okay.’ When you’re in trouble, I’m in trouble too. No matter how difficult things get, I’m right here with you, sharing what you feel and think.”

    Hearing that, she said, “Then I’ll try my best.”

    Puchiko has one more thing she considers troublesome: her English ability. She has set a goal for herself to speak English for at least 20 minutes every night. From my perspective, however, her English is still very much a novice level.

    Yet, on her resume, she has the experience of living and working in Australia for a year. Anyone who has spent a year there knows that a person’s English ability won’t suddenly transform in just 12 months, but to those who haven’t had that experience, it can seem incredible. They might just assume she should be proficient. Her English is only good enough for traveling abroad alone without worry. In reality, she worked at a campsite and as a housekeeper, jobs where she wasn’t constantly speaking English.

    The submission documents include a questionnaire about English proficiency, which Puchiko had to fill out. The options range from “Completely unable” to “Unable,” “Not good at it,” “Can communicate,” “Can hold daily conversations,” and “Can hold daily conversations and has experience in translation/interpretation.” While she truly wants to select “Can communicate,” she feels forced to choose “Can hold daily conversations.”

    The pressure is getting to Puchiko. I listened to all her complaints. I felt that all I can really do is listen. Then, she told me, “I spent all day, from morning until 10 PM tonight, working hard on these documents, so I’m taking a break from English.” I will abide by her decision, but I noted, “Haven’t you been finding reasons to skip lately?”

    How much will Puchiko’s English improve in the next four months? She practices conversations using an app and talks to me—unilaterally—in English all the time, but she has no actual experience dealing with foreigners at a service counter. The real environment will likely involve specialized terminology. But the English she practices is mostly ordering at a café or checking into a hotel—only very casual, everyday conversations. I want to say many things to her, but I hold back because I fear that too much criticism will discourage her, and she will stop practicing English entirely. She feels like she just completed the most difficult part of the process, from being hired to starting the job. Because of that, I really hope she lands in a truly good working environment.

    Just the other day, we were thinking about “a moment of happiness (Puchiko’s “Moment of Happiness” and Fear of the Future),” but tonight, both Puchiko and I are filled with anxiety over whether her problematic previous workplace will actually complete and send her documents back on time. My role is to relieve her anxiety…

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    Additional note 12th of December:

    Puchiko gave her former workplace a 2 week grace period, but no documents arrived from that outrageous organization, and they ignored her email inquiries. This happened even though she had enclosed a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). “They pocketed it. They should at least send back the envelope,” she grumbled.

    She considered going there in person, but decided against it because the travel costs would be high. It wasn’t worth it. However, she was somewhat looking forward to seeing the “Why did this person show up?” look on their faces if she did go directly, but I stopped her.

    Because she has a personality that makes her want to thoroughly pursue and corner people once that switch is flipped, I get anxious.

    Additional note 15th of December:

    Puchiko received the document from her bad former workplace today (even though it was past the deadline.)