About Me

maker, creative, living lightly, local, craft, minimalism, and taking joy in the small things

Sunday 16 December 2007

The politics of the car park

Next to my apartment there is some kind of office, and behind it, a car park. The car park is full most of the time, given Japanese people tend to work ALL the time.

However, some mornings I see the cars arriving. You notice that they all just park each other in, so there must be some serious negotiation at the end of the day - who wants to go, and who is trying to impress by staying the latest... I seriously don't know why they don't just mark lines, and give each other some access!

In Japan it is really important to be seen to be busy - Japanese people often talk about how busy they are, while they are sitting in the staffroom drinking coffee. Or they do this funny run/walk - moving their feet quickly but not moving anywhere fast! And, all the staffrooms are packed full of 'work' (piles and piles of papers). So I suspect parking the car closest to the building is a sign of working the hardest.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Do any of the cars actually go home for the night? If not I suggest that some enterprising people leave their cars there and actually walk/ride home unnnoticed, the illusion being they are first in, last to go. Am I correct? That or they sleep under their desks.