Nothing particularly special about these ear plugs except that I liked the name “Ear Holiday.” Even though they’re designed to primarily keep water out, the name really appeals to people hyper-sensitive to irritating noise like me. As you know, there are some sounds that really make to want to jump off Tokyo Tower. Moving quickly up the worst offenders list are those goddam white iPod ear phones. They must have built them with the speakers pointing out of the other side of the ear plugs cause you can hear what people are listening to from 50 metres away. And generally it seems that people listen to the worst music you could imagine. Not saying I listen to anything good either, but I don’t share my love for cheesy ’70s anime tunes with the rest of the world. ;-)
Category: Opinions
This evening, a fidgety guy was standing next to me on the train. A young guy, looked like a student. He had 3 keitais which he pulled out in turns from 3 different pockets. They were all clamshell types so everytime he pulled one out there was that click sound as he opened the phone. He took a phone out, click, typed something and closed it, click, put it away and pulled out another one, click, type, click, next keitai. Over and over non-stop. I could feel a need to bitchslap him swelling up in me. I had to move to a different spot on the train before I turned into the incredible hulk and crushed him.
First off, why did he need 3 keitais and what was he checking? We were on the subway, no signals moron. While this type of keitai behavior might be extreme, there is a growing number of people in this world who cannot stop fidgeting with their mobile phones. In a meeting the other day a guy kept opening and closing his handset constantly. It was very annoying, almost as much as people who click their pens. I especially find it rude when people check their phones or proceed to type an sms or email while I’m having a conversation with them. Then they will say something like “uh huh, yeah, I’m listening..go on..” but really they’re not listening. I can forgive people who get a call and at least say excuse me, I’m sorry or something but most people are just too ignorant. Or could it be that they lack something in their diet that’s making them fidgety.
Anyways, that’s enough rant for tonight. A couple of things I would like to report. First, I now have 11 people in my AGLOCO network! Thanks to you guys (and girls) I’m in the top 18.05%!! whatever that means. I need to get at least 1000 people so I can quit my job and get away from all those fidgety pen-clicking people and have peace of mind. So click here to join. Also, I’ve created an Amazon aStore which you can get to from the linkbar at the top right of every page. It’s books and stuff about Japan. If you purchase something from my store I will project thoughts of prosperity and good fortune to you.
With my upcoming trip to HKG, I was reminded of something that I notice time and again when I meet visitors from other countries. Sometimes friends or overseas colleagues from work will come to Japan for a visit. For many it’s their first time and I’m often elected to take them around, give them a tour etc. There are generally 5 types of visitors:
Type 1 is interested in food and eating. This is the hardest for me since I’m not really into food like most people and I don’t remember the names of sushi or what all the Japanese dishes are made of.
Type 2 is interested in nightlife, clubbing etc. For these people I usually just point them in the direction of Roppongi or Kabuki-cho and let them go. I’ve done all that in my younger days and not into it anymore. Also, I hate the smell of coming home in the morning.
Type 3 is interested in traditional Japan. They want to go see temples and shrines and sumo and bonsai etc. This is OK and I usually learn a thing or two about Japanese culture from these people. Although I get bored real quick hanging around Shrines all day long.
Type 4 is interested in the city. This is an easy one because Tokyo is filled with lots of things to see on the street, weird buildings and shops, lots of neon light etc. I’m this type of person when I travel, which is not very often.
Type 5 is interested in shopping, anime, electronics, fashion, etc. This is also an easy one for me cause I have a lot of experience in this area and can generally tell someone the best place to buy whatever they are looking for.
Anyway, that’s not the point I was trying to make. No matter which “type” the visitors are, what always surprises me is how much people talk about their home country when they are here (or visiting another country). I might spend the entire day with someone on their only day in Japan and they will talk constantly about what it’s like back home. “Oh, in my country we don’t do that…” or “In my country, we eat this..” etc. I don’t think this is necessarily bad since I can learn alot about different cultures, and sometimes I perpetuate this behavior by asking a lot of questions. But even when I don’t most people will still do it. One Canadian friend did this all day long and I had to remind him several times that I was from Canada too.
Wouldn’t their energy be better spent focusing on what they’re experiencing around them rather than talking about their country? I guess talking about one’s own country is a way to bond in the same way 2 people talk about themselves in order to get to know each other. But I always feel that in some ways it comes across as not really paying attention which is kind of the same as not being interested. What do you think?
The guy in front of me took my favorite seat on the bus so I went and sat at the back. I don’t like sitting at the back of the bus but I had no choice tonight. On the way home I thought to myself, what am I going to blog about today? I have no idea. At that moment, the bus stopped and I happen to look out the window. There parked quietly in the dark was a galaxy gray NC roadster just like mine. The gate makes it look like it’s caged. I was positioned perfectly in front of it and the bus stopped long enough for me to take this photo.
How could it be that I was forced to sit in this very spot and then happened to look out to see an NC the same color as mine as I pondered my next blog topic? A coincidence? I THINK NOT! This car is a rare sight as it is. I hardly ever spot one.
There is meaning in everything we do and everything that happens to us. There are connections all around and we need only observe and welcome them. Just the other day, I walked into a book store, opened a book at random and read a paragraph without much thought to what I was reading. The next day, that small bit of information was exactly what I needed to know to answer a question a person asked me. Another time when I was a kid, I saw a toy that I wanted to buy which cost 50 bucks. I said that I needed 50 bucks out loud for no reason. No one heard me, or so I thought, a few days later while I was skiing I wiped out on a slope and as I lay there in pain I looked over and there in front of me was a big wad of cash amounting to 50 bucks!! Last year, I said here that I would buy a mansion or house. I didn’t know how I would be able to do it but since then a chain of events lead to me be able to purchase my own home. And it just took a little over a year since I declared to do it. A few years ago while riding the train, I thought of a girl I vaguely knew whom I hadn’t seen for almost 10 years. I was trying to recall her last name and finally I remembered it. At that moment as I got off the train there she was on the platform so I went over to say hi. She was cuter than ever and was impressed that I remembered her name. Good timing or what?! I’m not making this stuff up.
Yes I know, I sound like some new age infomercial, but I just needed some text to accompany the cool photo of the car above. Even so, don’t you think these experiences are the things that make life fun? They’re like breadcrumbs we look for which will eventually lead us to where we gotta go. Do you have an experience like this? Please share.
If personal visitors are not allowed into the office, doesn’t that mean people should not bring their babies to their desk either? Especially during working hours! The baby that someone brought to work today was extremely cute, adorable and well behaved. However, I’ve never seen anything distract all the women more effectively. “Sorry I can’t answer the phone right now, it’s my turn to hold the baby. ”
I thought to myself “Oh, I have a really cute dog, can I bring it in too? What if I could bring my stripper girlfriends to the office to show all the guys. Is that OK then?” Nothing really against babies in the office, it’s good to break up the monotony of a Friday afternoon, but they make a rule one day and let people break it the next. Is it a rule or not? Should I lighten up? Am I being unreasonable?
Do you think it is too much to expect good service? I am a fair person but enough is enough. Ikea Japan SUCKS and I will never go there again. I was told they would call me to confirm that the stuff I returned had been returned and I could go and get my refund. But more than a week has passed and no one from their incompetent support desk has called me. This is no surprise cause the last few times they said they would call they did not. So I called the number listed on their website at 6:30pm and an automatic messages comes on saying that the phone lines are busy and I will have to call back tomorrow morning. Well, this is totally unacceptable considering that the store is open until 8:00pm. Concerning this issue, I must have called and talked to about 8 different people in total and not one of them had a clue what was going on and I had to explain the same thing over and over and over again. I don’t blame these poor individuals who must be getting screamed at by everyone, they are the victims of a system that doesn’t consider the best interests of the consumer. I don’t have a problem with Ikea products and I like the store, I just think their service is completely crap and don’t want to waste anymore of my time dealing with them. If you do want to shop there my advice is to bring a big truck and haul everything yourself. Don’t have them deliver anything to your house otherwise you will be wasting hours on the phone trying to track down your stuff.
So tonight I went to Ikea again and this time I actually bought stuff. Yes, I have succumbed to the temptation of low priced home furnishings and purchased a sofa, a work desk, some drawers etc. This being my 4th time in the store I was hoping to see some improvement in the level of service but unfortunately it was not the case. I have come to the conclusion that buying stuff from Ikea is one of the most frustrating shopping experiences I’ve ever had in Japan. While the Ikea model may be acceptable in other countries, I think the Japanese will soon reject it. At least, those that cannot put up with the trouble you have to go thru to get something shipped and don’t mind paying a bit more for convenience. Here is a summary of my observations today:
1. I did not hear a single “irasshaimase” while I was there. All the staff were crowded around pods and staring at computer screens. They should be looking at the customers. They did not smile or pay much attention to the customers and you had to go up and chase them if you wanted something. When I asked a question, they answered it and turned back to their computer screen. There was no attempt to sell. Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t that what those people are supposed to be doing? Or are they just there to check the stock for you?
2. I was in the middle of asking a clerk a question when she suddenly ran off to answer the phone. No apology when she came back.
3. Some loud customer was asking questions and there were 3 staff crowded around him while several people in plain view were waiting for service and getting pissed. When they were finally served there was no apology from the staff. Not even a simple “omataseshimashita”.
4. Ikea doesn’t allow you to place an order for something that’s currently out of stock (and a lot of their items were out of stock). You have to come again some other time and try your luck. This is just about the only store in Japan I know of that doesn’t take orders. I overheard at least a half dozen customers asking about this and not understanding the logic of it. Obvious the staff are getting really tired of explaining it over and over cause one female staff was practically yelling at a customer who just wouldn’t accept that he couldn’t preorder a table. I found this very rude and unacceptable no matter how obnoxious the customer was.
5. In the warehouse where you go to get your boxed furniture, the flatbed carts slant forward so if you put anything on it, it slides off. This made no sense to me. Who designed it?
6. Some of those boxes can be really heavy. One girl was struggling to get a heavy box onto her cart when a male staff walked by without even offering to help her. I saw this as an opportunity to flirt with her and helped her out. :-)
7. Some things I ordered had to be brought out a different way. I had to wait 30 minutes for it to be brought out only to give it back to them so they could ship it to my house. No sense here. The staff didn’t explain the process at all. And lots of people stood around wondering what they should do. Everyone’s stuff was lying all over the place. It reminded me of when I saw how Northwest Airlines handles luggage at O’hare International. On top of that, the girls were rude and were chewing gum! Bitches.
To be fair, most of the staff were trying to do their best. However, I felt that they were either inexperienced or were not properly trained in the basics of good manners and customer service in Japan. I think if Ikea is to survive in this country this is an area where they need to put a little bit more effort. After the 4th time there, I feel that there’s not much more that interests me about the merchandise or the store and won’t be going there again. Now let’s hope they don’t screw up my shipment.
On the way home, Ito Misaki kept me company (above). What is it about this ad that I can’t stop looking at it? ;-)
The entire office is wireless so if you have a laptop you can basically work from anywhere in the building. Sometimes when I have to write a top secret document (like my resume) I go sit on the can with my thinkpad. We also have a internal chat app so people now spend half their time instant messaging each other rather than walking down the hall and doing a face to face. While this is all very convenient I’ve noticed that the level of common sense and good manners amongst the employees has dropped even lower.
Today, a VIP from out of town came to Japan to give some product presentations. These presentations are not the most exciting affairs but they serve their purpose. Recently, people have been bringing their laptops to these presentations. I can understand having your PC during meetings and telecons but presentations are different. I believe that giving the presenter your undivided attention is just good manners. But it seems that for a lot of people it’s just another entry on their outlook calendar. One guy in today’s presentation was chatting for the entire hour and typing really loudly. On top of that, his cell phone rang 4 times and he answered it and mumbled in it while continuing his chatting. I don’t know whether he was attending to important business or not but if it was important he should have just left and taken his noisy keyboard with him. The presenter didn’t seem to be bothered by this kind of thing which was sad in a way. We are all so used to this kind of behavior that it’s considered normal.
I made a note to myself to do only one thing at a time and focus only on that one thing while I am doing it.
This morning, I was on the train car next to the women’s only train car. There were many beautiful women in that car and only salarymen in gray suits in the car I was in. I was looking into the women’s only train car with my mouth wide open and drooling all over myself (kidding). I noticed that in the women’s car there was an older man, about 50 or so standing amongst the women. His eyes were closed very tightly like he was trying to shut out his surroundings. A few other people noticed what I was looking at and we all wondered the same thing. Did this man know he was on the women’s only train? Did he care? Was he dared by his friends? Why didn’t any women say anything to him? I was almost going to take a photo until I realized that no one would believe that I was taking a photo of the man..So far, I have not gotten onto the women’s only car by accident yet but I’m sure it will happen one of these days.
In the most recent Nikkei Business Podcast there was an interesting discussion about the auto parts manufacturer Denso. The editor, Inoue Yutaka suggested that this rather “JIMI” 地味 (plain,dull) company was heading for steady long term growth and attributed their success to a couple of factors. One being that they manufacture the ignition systems for all the cars made by Toyota and with Toyota soon to overtake GM as the world’s top car maker Denso will be able to piggy back on that growth. Inoue also used the acronym JIMI to define what he thought was the success of Denso J=Japanese (traditional Japanese old style management quite the opposite of western performance based management) I=Innovation (They got a 30 year product roadmap apparently. 30 years!!!), M=Meister (refering to the breeding of craftsman in the company), I=Intercultural (Communication between different generation, different cultures). Anyway, I checked their chart this morning and it looks like there’s steady growth for this company…must add Denso to my watchlist.
The Nikkei Business Podcast is a good way to improve your Japanese business vocabulary if you’re interested.
Do you like reading this kind of commentary or would you prefer if I just stick to pictures of Shinbashi Station?
At the video store tonight, I overheard a foreign man speaking broken English to the clerk who answered his questions in grammatically correct English. The foreigner was a native English speaker and the clerk was Japanese of course. From time to time I meet foreigners who appear intelligent and articulate and otherwise normal until I hear them speaking to Japanese people in English. Suddenly, their English turns into a gaijin pidgin English. This pidgin is characterized primarily by the speaker dropping verbs, in particular the BE-verb. For example, “My brother, very tall”, “I, very sleepy” etc. Why does this happen? Surely, you wouldn’t speak to a child this way, would you? Once I met an American English teacher who had lived in Japan for a few years and was married to my friend. Although all the Japanese at the gathering were bilingual (many grew up in other countries) he kept speaking the gaijin pidgin. Even when he spoke to me he kept dropping the BE-verb. I had to restrain myself from reaching across the table and slapping him across the face! “Speak normally you dimwit!” Does he think all Asians cannot understand proper English?
Or perhaps this happens after teaching English for an extended period. I noticed many teachers speaking in class like this. Whether they are conscious of it or not, I don’t think they are doing the students any favor by speaking in poor English. When you’re talking to ESL students all day long, it’s true that some of their “bad habits” rub off on you and you do begin using unnatural expressions, but I don’t think that’s an excuse for setting a bad example. When I was teaching, I did make a conscious effort to speak naturally to all my students regardless of level.
This was because of an experience I had when I first came to Japan and could not speak Japanese well. I was attending a class in a senmon-gakko for a few months. One of the teachers there would always talk to me in broken Japanese, every other word was “wakaru? wakaranai?” (Do you understand?) and so on. He meant well, but I found myself feeling like shit talking to this guy. On the other hand, there was a student in the class that I talked to everyday and although we didn’t discuss politics or philosophy I could have a decent conversation. He spoke to me naturally as he did with everyone else and I found that my confidence in speaking Japanese improved. These days, I very rarely experience people speaking to me in broken Japanese, but I’m sure if I were caucasian I’d get it all the time.
How come people say “Congratulations” when you buy a new car? To me it seems like an inappropriate use of the word. Isn’t “Congratulations” used when you’ve succeeded in something or received something either by luck or effort? Buying a car is simply a decision to purchase and I never understood why people always say it. When I bought a computer nobody said congratulations to me. Does it have to do with the price? Perhaps it is for lack of any better expression. Strangely enough, a few Japanese people said it to me too (in Japanese) when I told them about the car. The only person who didn’t say it to me was the car dealer. He said thank you.
Do you work for a mobile handset manufacturer? If so, could you please explain to me the logic of having keypad beep tones ON as the default factory setting?
In my opinion, this is more obnoxious and bothersome than having the ringer go off. In the days when people would just dial a number the beep tone was not a big deal, but now as people are typing long e-mails on their keitais it’s a constantly irritating noise. Some people at the office type e-mails on their keitais and you can hear the beep-beep from several cubicles away. I suppose the justification for such a feature is so users can confirm input audibly, but the reality is that most people with common sense turn that off right after purchase. It’s the first thing I do. I can’t think of any benefit of having such a feature turned to ON by default. I blame the handset manufacturers for burying the setting deep into the preferences menu where no one can find it. You can’t expect all the lazy retarded people of the world to figure out how to turn this off themselves. And it’s the rest of us that have to suffer.
Being generally sensitive to sound, I find that the single most distracting thing in a crowded work environment is the sound of people’s voices. There seems to be a direct correlation between the level at which a person speaks and how harsh their voice sounds. In other words, people with the most irritating voices speak the loudest. I don’t mind loud talking in general and would prefer lots of noise versus a quiet office with a few obnoxious voices that feel like someone is hammering a nail into my ear, that bothers me. It often appears like I’m the only one being irritated by this and wonder how others can shut this kind of noise out. Luckily I can use an iPod at work but I still envy those that don’t even notice it. Besides telling the perpetrators to shut up, any advice on how to phase this out would be welcome.
There is nothing that sends me into an instant fit of seething rage more than the sight of someone callously littering. I don’t know why this bothers me so much but thank god firearms are illegal otherwise there would be alot of dead polluters. It really isn’t such a big deal compared to some of the more harmful acts perpetrated by human beings and while I’m not claiming to take the moral high ground here, somehow littering is the trigger for me to go postal. And this isn’t a Japan thing either. Just yesterday, I witnessed a western business man throw a bunch of crumpled paper into a bush which was 2 metres from a trash can.
It’s a well known fact that the cleanest place in Japan is Tokyo Disneyland. While the path leading up to the top of Mt. Fuji during peak season is a disgrace. Tokyo as a whole is rather clean considering the size and population destiny. Dirty areas are generally dirtier and clean areas are almost always litter free. I think the worst the city has ever gotten was immediately after the sarin gas attack in 1995. They basically removed almost every trash can in the city so you could not throw away your garbage. This was supposed to be an attempt to prevent more terrorists acts, although if I remember correctly there was never any bomb in any trash can to begin with. People started to dump gomi on the street claiming that it was the city’s fault for not providing trash cans and shoganai..a small piece of trash would evolve into a big pile very rapidly. Broken Windows Theory in action. Shinjuku station was a mess for a while. Since then I don’t think it has been the same. There are still too few trash cans in public places and most train platforms will have one at most if at all. Along some major roads there are places piled high in garbage where people throw junk out their windows while waiting at an intersection. The garbage piles up because these places are harder to get to to clean.
Thinking about why this irks me so much I realized that it’s not so much the litter but the littering that bugs me. The fact that some otherwise normal people can throw stuff away in the middle of the street as if it was perfectly fine and not feeling the least bit of guilt that they’re messing up the environment, that disturbs me. Which is why I can never enjoy Hanami. The hypocrisy of the “Let’s enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms and then dump our garbage at the base of the Sakura tree” puts me in a bad mood everytime.
LOHAS = Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. I predict that this word will have lost it’s original meaning completely in another 6 months. Seems like everyone and their mother are using this word in any context that they see fit to sound progressive or cool or hip or spiritual or whatever. It’s like when a child learns a new adjective and uses it in every sentence for a whole week. Very irritating. It’s only a matter of time before we see a LOHAS Mocha Grande or a LOHAS Donburi or a LOHAS Mini-skirt. Granted it is a good marketing scheme to come up with a “catch-phrase” that brings attention to all that LOHAS represents and I’m all for that. But still…I’m getting sick of flipping a magazine or clicking on a link and seeing this word everywhere…aren’t you? LOHAS is just going to become another fashion trend come and gone…
I have noticed that the most opinionated, outspoken people in the office with the loudest voice are often the ones with the least responsibilities and lowest on the food chain, so to speak. Are they trying to make up for their unimportance with loudness? Or do they just have too much time to complain? In case you’re wondering, I’m not one of these peoples.
There’s a person at work who I have to deal with for admin stuff. I don’t know her personally but have to send her mails and forms etc. Anyway, in the past most of the mails I received from this person have been abrupt and slightly rude. Others have felt the same way. Today I had to deal with her again and received a reply to a query. I expected it to be rude and as a result I misread what she had written. I fired off some blunt retorts only to feel really bad after realizing that her reply had been correct and I was at fault. Duh…after so many years, I still sometimes hit that send-receive button too quickly. Need to be cool, don’t prejudge people and leave emotions out of email. Lesson learnt…
The other day on the Hibiya Line, a little girl of about 6 years old was studying arithmetic. She appeared to be half Japanese and was speaking English to her tutor sitting next to her. The tutor was a middle aged woman, late forties, might have been Japanese but the kind that spent many years living abroad. You could tell because she had a scowl of impatience on her wrinkly face. Most Japanese don’t express emotion that explicitly.
Anyway, the tutor had a worksheet and was reading out the questions to the girl. Her voice was loud, you could hear her all down the train.
“What’s 4-10?! What is the answer? Hurry up, don’t you know? It’s so easy, why can’t you answer it?”
She was mean. A real witch.
The girl was counting on her fingers trying to figure it out but the tutor wouldn’t even let her think. She kept rolling her eyes and stabbing her pointed bitch finger at the worksheet.
“WHAT’S 4-10!!!!” She yelled. “Maya, you are soo lazy! You can’t even answer this one! Terrible!”
She had no patience or respect for this girl and was thoroughly irritated. To some extent, I can understand this feeling. Everyone knows someone, perhaps at work, that just drives you bonkers and just being in the same room irritates you. Anything they say will make your blood boil for no apparent reason. This was what the tutor was feeling. But how could she be so mean to this adorable little girl, I thought.
I was about to say something when the girl snapped back at the tutor. “You think you’re so smart!? What’s 100 times 100?” The tutor was taken aback and muttered something. The train doors opened and the tutor got up and practically yanked the girl off the train. I noticed the girl was snickering in satisfaction as she left.
Tough kid. Made me laugh.
Something about people working at the Apple Store bugs me. Today I came here to ask a question. I asked 5 different people and they all gave me different answers. It was a simple yes or no question about ordering someting online and it was obvious that none of them knew but they went ahead and gave me random answers. It would have taken them all but 5 minutes to call the information centre to confirm but they choose to just give me a glib response. I asked one guy if he was sure of what he said, and he said “Yes, I’m sure” and then when I told him that other two guys said something different he said “Oh well, this is just my personal opinion” How can you have a personal opinion about sales procedure? Either you know or you don’t. What an idiot. To be fair there are a few guys here that know their stuff and one girl in the past that went out of her way to provide good service, but I think the majority of people working here just think they are “cool” and don’t have a clue about what they are selling or what good service is. I prefer the computer geeks at Bic or Yodobashi.
By the way, I’m writing this at the Apple Store in Ginza.
After the success of “Cool Biz” this summer, the government started the Warm Biz campaign. Basically, in summer you wear cooler casual clothing at work (no tie, short sleeves) and set the aircon temperature higher (28°C) to save energy. In winter, it’s the reverse (20°C). I was looking forward to Warm Biz because I hate a hot stuffy office. Last winter, I almost died of heat stroke. This year, my desk has moved to a different location but unfortunately it is hotter than last year…I have a headache today from the heat!!! I would rather just work outside. Somebody save me!!!
After leaving the Apple store and walking back to the station, I confirmed the fact that there are more beautiful women in Ginza on a Friday night than any other place in the world.
On the way home, a young lady approached in the opposite direction. Pretty face, slim, tight jeans, long legs, nice hair, above average in all respects. She had my nod. About 5 metres away, this girl suddenly stopped in her tracks and spit right in my path. Not a cute female spit but a disgusting snotty spit. A big wad of gob. She really let loose. The sound of the act was equally as horrible. I was aghast. She went from an 8.5 to a -8.5. If she had suddenly swallowed a bug and spit it out, I could understand, but this was not the case. It must have been obvious by the expression on my face that I was shocked to see such an act from what I perceived to be an attractive female. But she went on her way while I carefully stepped over it.
I dare her to do this in the Ginza.
If you’re gonna smoke a cigarette, then smoke the damn thing. Two young “yankee” girls (not the doodle-dandee type) near me in a coffee shop had an ashtray filled with at least 2 packs of cigarette butts, not one smoked more than half way. They would light a cigarette and hold it while talking and typing a mail in their keitais. Occasionally, they might take a puff but they didn’t inhale. You can tell if someone is really smoking or not by the way the smoke is exhaled. If it comes out in a stream, then they are really smoking. If it comes out as a shapeless cloud, they are not inhaling. I see young girls do this all the time. Posers. Cigarettes are for smoking, not holding you morons! It is a shameless waste of good cigarettes that I would gladly smoke for them. And they are just creating needless second hand smoke for the rest of us.
I sometimes have a cigarette when someone is kind enough to give me one but basically I don’t smoke anymore. I dislike people smoking around food. Coffee shops and bars are fine but not restaurants. When I was in college in Canada, I had this huge ashtray in my house. It was the size of a salad bowl. No kidding!! Anyway, my Japanese friend Yoshihiro and I would drive across the border to NY State and buy cartons of Lucky Strikes and Marlboro Reds (they don’t sell American cigarettes in Canada). One night between the two of us, we smoked a whole carton of cigarettes while drinking an entire bottle of bourbon. I wasn’t just holding them either. Real inhaling happened. I think I have a picture of that ashtray full of butts and the gray cloud around the ceiling. If I did that at my age now, I would definitely die immediately.
By the way, the photos above have nothing to do with smoking. I just saw this really sad dog outside Meidaimae station and had to take its picture.
