Happy New Year♥!　9

【A message for golf and baseball lovers!】

Act 9 [Ken and Jin's part-time job] During spring break in his first year of high school, Ken was invited by Jin to work part-time at a futon shop. The boss loaded the futons into the Town Ace and went to sell them to farmers in the countryside. Many of the farmers in the countryside are wealthy, collecting matsutake mushrooms and cultivating shiitake mushrooms. When they went to sell the futons there, they bought a large number of sets of futons. It's not uncommon for them to buy wedding futons worth over 300,000 yen for their daughters who are getting married. Ken and Jin waited at the Town Ace and chatted about things like "How's school going? Are you doing well in your clubs?"The boss said,"Hey, tea! Hey, we sold some, carry them." The two of us carried the new futons wrapped in plastic to the farmer's tatami room. They were quite heavy. We also had a job loading old futons into a car, stuffing them with cotton, and transporting the futons that looked like new. One day, our boss said to us."You guys, there are apartment complexes around here, right? Go out and make sales and sell at least one pillow!" We climbed the stairs to the five-story public housing complex, rang the doorbell at each house, and tried to make a run for it, but"No good, we're here to make sales today. We can't run away."It seems like our old habits won't die."Hi."A young wife from the apartment complex came to the front door. "Excuse me, this is Saito Bedding Store.Can I buy just one pillow?"The pillow was a character pillow that girls and boys like."Oh, this is a pillow that my daughter Megu-chan would love.How much is it?""2,400 yen.""Hmm, is it okay if I pay it on credit?""Of course, that's fine. Can I pay it in six installments?""Sure, then, 400 yen, is that okay?""Yes! I'll leave the pillow here. Thank you very much!!" Jin, pleased with his first sale, returned to the store,"Boss, I sold it!""Really? How many did you sell?""I sold a pillow to a customer on the fifth floor.""A pillow, huh? Well, that's fine. Well done. Have you collected the money?""Yes."Jin handed four 100 yen coins to the boss."Why is it 400 yen?""The customer asked me to take out a loan, so I paid it off in six installments.""Are you stupid? You're only doing this part-time in the spring, so can you go and collect the money from me every month for the rest of the year? Plus, I have bad knees up to the fifth floor." The housing complex had no elevator.During the summer vacation of his third year of high school, Ken invited Jin to do a part-time job cleaning the elevated water tank of an apartment building. Tsuru-san was the son of a yakuza who lived in Nara, and was a carefree guy, but somehow he and Ken got along well and often helped him find a part-time job. He also ran a used car dealership and drove a yellow Sunny with an expired inspection."Tsuru-san, the inspection of this Sunny has expired, and there's no sticker on the windshield."Tsuru-san cut the paper bag of the Seven Stars he was smoking with scissors and stuck it to the inside of the windshield."The expiry date is in July.""This guy's crazy." Six part-timers showed up, and Tsuru appointed Ken and Jin to clean the elevated water tank on the roof, and the other four to clean the septic tank in the basement. Everyone was very Hapi because they were paid 5,000 yen a day. The septic tank team was doing dirty work underground, where rats crawl around and it smelled bad. They used brushes to scrub the floors, covered in sweat, sludge and shit. The elevated water tank team went to the rooftop of the apartment building and used sponges to clean the grime that had built up in the elevated water tank where drinking water was stored. Tsuru went to the management office, told them that the water would not be available for an hour, and came up to the roof. We put on swimming trunks and waited. We opened the hatch of the tank and jumped in, and it felt great because it was summer. The inside was quite spacious, and we could swim standing up. It was deep enough that we couldn't touch the bottom with our feet. It was midsummer afternoon, so the clean drinking water tank was the perfect indoor pool. While swimming, I used a sponge to lightly scrub the tank walls, PVC ladder, water inlet, and drain. It was originally a drinking water tank, so it wasn't that dirty. After cleaning for about an hour, Tsuru-san said. "Let's go for lunch!" We got changed and got into the Sunny, which had an expiry date of July. We arrived at a high-end restaurant in Arashiyama."Tsuru-san, this isn't one of those famous restaurants, it looks really expensive!""Leave it to me, it's a life experience." The kaiseki meal that was served was so high-end that neither Jin nor Ken could remember much about the taste. When we returned to the apartment, the septic tank team had finished their work drenched in sweat, and we received our daily wages and dispersed. At this time, I experienced the disparity between rich and poor. After that, there was a complaint that the sponge was clogged in the tank of the elevated water tank and drinking water was not coming out, and Tsuru-san was fired from his subcontract work. "Sorry, Tsuru-san!!" I've had a lot of part-time jobs up until now, but this was the easiest one. Kidzania, a place for children to experience different jobs, is good, Life is short, and many people only experience one or two jobs until they retire unless they get a job and change jobs, so these part-time jobs that allow them to experience other industries are valuable practical experiences for their current lives, and I feel like I got a glimpse of the joys and sorrows of life. After three years in prison, or rather high school life, Ken and Jin were released, or rather graduated. In School Wars, which is based on rugby at Fushimi Technical High School, the school seems to be quite rough, but the two who were enrolled at the same time had relatively peaceful high school lives, so it was probably exaggerated.

act9【ケンと仁のアルバイト】

高校1年の春休み、ケンは仁の誘いで、ふとん屋のアルバイトをした。

タウンエースに布団を積み込み親方が田舎の農家に布団を売りに行く。

田舎の農家は松茸の採集やシイタケを栽培して、お金持ちの農家が多いらしい。

そこへ布団を売りに行くとセットで組布団を大量に買ってくれる。

時には嫁ぐ娘の為に30万以上もする婚礼布団を購入してくれる事も珍しく無いらしい。

ケンと仁はタウンエースで待機して

「学校どうや、クラブ頑張っているか?」

など雑談していた。

親方が

「お~いお茶!いやお~い売れたぞ、運んでくれ」

僕達は2人係でビニールで包装された新品の布団を農家の畳の部屋迄運び込む。

結構な重量だ。

古い布団を車に積み込み、綿打ちして新品の様によみかえった布団を運ぶ仕事もあった。

ある日親方が僕達に言った。

「お前達、周りに団地があるやろ、飛び込みでセールスに行って枕の1つでも売って来い!」

僕達は5階建ての公団住宅に階段を登って1軒ずつピンポン鳴らしダッシュで逃げようとしたが、

「あかん今日はセールスに来たんや。逃げたらあかん」

どうも昔の癖が消えない。

「ハーイ」

団地の若奥さんが玄関に出て来た。

「スイマセン、斉藤寝具店と言います。枕1つでも良いですから買って貰えないでしょうか?」

その枕は女の子と男の子が好むキャラクター枕でした。

「あら、ウチのめぐちゃんが喜びそうな枕ね、幾らなの？」「2400円です。」

「う~ん、ローンでもいいかしら?」

「もちろん良いですよ、じゃあ6回払いでいいですか?」

「良いわよ、じゃあ400円、これでいいの?」

「はい!では枕置いて行きます。どうもありがとうございました!!」

初めてのセールスにご機嫌な仁はお店に帰って、

「親方売れました!」

「ほんまか、何売れたんや!」

「5階のお客様に枕売れました。」

「枕か、まあ良いわ、ようやった。集金して来たか?」

「はい」

仁は100円球４枚を親方に渡した。

「何で400円なんや?」

「お客様がローンにして欲しいって言ったので、６回払いにしました。」

「アホか!お前ら春だけのバイトやろ、残り毎月わしに集金行けいうんか?しかも5階迄ワシ膝悪いんやぞ～」

公団住宅はエレベーターが付いていませんでした。

高校3年の夏休みケンは仁を誘いマンションの高架水槽の清掃のアルバイトをした。

鶴さんという奈良に住むヤクザの息子でチャランポランの人だが、ケンさんとは何となく気が合ってよくアルバイトを世話してくれた。中古車屋も営んでいて車検切れの黄色いサニーを乗って来た。

「鶴さんこのサニー車検切れちゃうの、フロントガラスに何もシールが貼って無いよ。」

鶴さんは、吸っていたセブンスターの紙袋をハサミで切りフロントガラスの内側に張り付けた。

「有効期限7月や」

「ムチャクチャやな、この人」

集まったアルバイトは6人、鶴さんはケンと仁を屋上の高架水槽、あとの４人を地下の浄化槽の清掃に指名した。

日給5000円もくれるから皆んな大喜びだ。

浄化槽組は地下のネズミが這い回る匂いがキツい汚れ作業だ。ブラシを使って汗まみれ、ヘドロまみれクソまみれになってブラシで擦る。

高架水槽組は、マンションの屋上に行って飲水が貯められている高架水槽のタンクに溜まっている垢などをスポンジで掃除する仕事だ。

鶴さんは管理事務所に行き、水道が１時間使えない事を伝えて屋上に上がって来た。僕達は、海水パンツをはいて、待機していた。

タンクのハッチを開けてタンクの中に飛び込むと夏なのでとても気持ち良い。

中は結構広くて立ち泳ぎで泳げる広さだ。

足はつかないほど深い。

真夏のお昼なので飲水の綺麗な水槽は最高の室内プールだ。

泳ぎながら、スポンジでタンクの壁や塩ビのハシゴ、給水、排水口を軽くゴシゴシ擦る。

元々飲水用タンクなのでそんなに汚れていない。

1時間程掃除して、鶴さんが言った。

「お昼でも食べに行こか!」

僕達は着替えて有効期限7月のサニーに乗り込んだ。

着いたのは嵐山の高級料亭。

「鶴さん、ここ有名な料亭ちがうの、メッチャ高そう!」

「任せとき、これも人生経験や」

出された懐石料理は高級すぎて、仁もケンも味はほとんど覚えていなかった。

マンションに、戻ると浄化槽組は、汗だくで仕事を終えて、僕達は日当を貰い解散した。

この時貧富の格差を体験させてもらった。

その後高架水槽のタンクにスポンジが詰まって飲水が出ないとのクレームが入り、鶴さんは下請けの業務をクビになったらしい。

「鶴さん、ごめんなさい!!」

今迄に色々なアルバイトして来たけれどこれが1番楽なアルバイトだった。

キッザニアとか言う子供向けの職業体験出来る施設も良いが

短い人生、学校卒業後は就職して転職しない限り定年退職を迎える迄１，２種類の職業しか経験しない人も多くいる中で、実際の他業種体験が出来るこれらのアルバイトは今生きていく上で貴重な実践体験となり、人生の苦楽を少しだけ垣間見た気がする。

刑務所での、いや高校生活の3年間、ケンと仁は無事出所、いや卒業した。伏工のラグビーを題材にしたスクールウォーズでは、随分と荒れた学校の様だが同じ頃在籍していた2人は比較的平穏な高校生活だったのでかなり、たぶん大袈裟に表現されていたのだろう。