By Emika Uetake
I love to introduce Japanese jokes, traditions, and advertisements. We have a very famous TV commercial in Japan. An old couple goes on a trip, and they spend a great time using a credit card. On the final day, they look at each other, and remember the life since they were married. Then the narrator says, “These have a special value that money can’t buy. Why don’t you use a Mastercard for things that money
can buy?” We work for money because we can’t live without money. However, if we have to work only for money, we don’t have to have a number of job interviews or try to go to a good university unless we are interested in studying. I think this is a controversial topic, but in my opinion, in addition to earning money, we work for people and work gives meaning to our lives.
Before I came to Canada to study English, I wonder how many people have helped me? First, the university informed about this studying abroad, prepared a lot of papers like an admission paper for Northern Lights College, recommended which insurance is good for me and so on. Furthermore, the airlines offered me flights from Japan to Canada, and my parents prepared things that I need, like money. A lot of people helped me, and a lot of people are helping me right now. On the other hand, I had a part-time job when I was a freshman in university. I promoted new products like juice or snacks, and sometimes an event took place for the products. I helped lots of consumers decide which products are good for them and contributed to sales of the company. According to my “decent” dictionary, “work” means to do your best for others. Someone does his or her best while another person supports him or her. In Japanese kanji, we write “human” like this:
It looks like people who support each other. Even if we do just a simple easy work, it becomes a help for someone.
When I talk with my Japanese friends about differences between Canada and Japan, a big difference is always answered first. Basically, after Canadians finish working, they go back home immediately and spend a lot of time with their families. They sometimes take a long vacation and go on a trip. In a word, Canadian’s thoughts are well-balanced. In contrast, Japanese, especially married men, tend to be so intent on work as to neglect their families. They work all day long too, but after that, they usually go to Japanese pubs with co-workers and bosses to promote easier relationships. Consequently, many Japanese workers forget about their families, and when they retire from their job, they become like “empty boxes.” Some retired Japanese men wear suits and ties, and they go out every day even though they don’t need to get on a too-crowded train or work with scolding bosses because they can’t forget the days when they worked at a company. Then we have another problem. While husbands are working, their wives spend a good time alone after they see their children or husbands off. Therefore, after their husband’s retired and stays at home all day long, the wives can’t endure the situation and sometimes they are divorced. The Japanese are known as busy bees, but we have this kind of problem as a cost. However, this is also a good example about why we work. People need us every time while we are working. We are sometimes scolded by bosses, but it is evidence that there is a person who is worried about us. I think we work because working gives meaning to our lives.
We have to sacrifice spending time doing our hobbies or things which we want to do almost every day. However, we can get other things instead of it like new human relations, experiences, appreciation, and so on. These can’t be gained while we spend a long time doing Internet or being idle at home. In a TED speech (ted.com), a man talked about “the golden circle.” It tells that very few people or organizations know
why they do what they do. This doesn’t mean to make a profit. A person who knows why people work, besides for money, can enjoy the person’s job. In addition, somehow, we miss simple things easier than complicated things. A very simple, general activity called working gives us lots of emotions or experiences, but when you find the reason why people work, like for people or having a proof that we are living in them, I think your world about working will be changed 180 degrees around.
