"Why Can't You Pull Money out of Thin Air?!"

Tetsu: "Why don't you have more money!"

Ishi: "Well, I'm trying to earn more.  The economy is bad..."

Tetsu: "Always blaming someone else!  You are the worst human being in the world!"

Ishi: [Pain in chest...] (Thinking: Yeah... thanks.  Thank you for being a compassionate person.  I appreciate it.)

Tetsu: "You have no dreams!  You never say anything!  You're boring!  I've never heard of such a horrible person!"

Ishi: "I have dreams and I have things to say, but you ridicule my dreams and aren't interested in anything I say!  It's really hard to talk to you!"

Tetsu: "I don't mean adolescent dreams!  I mean concrete plans to make money!"

Ishi: "Well I can't pull money out of thin air!  And I can't rob a bank - that's illegal!  When I do make some money, you ridicule it as being nothing, not enough."

Tetsu: "It's not enough!  Not nearly enough!  You are the worst person in all human history!"  Etc. etc. etc.  ..............

I wonder if the robber banksters realize the full extent of the pain they cause - directly and indirectly....

------------------------------------------------------

我輩オバケになったのかな？

石: 我輩オバケになったのかな？ 鉄は、ムシしている。 話をかけると、丸で透明人間見たい。 いや、透明だけじゃない！ 音を立てない透明オバケ！ 寂しいなぁ、ムシされるのは...

Have I Become an Invisible Man?

I wonder if I've become a ghost.  If I try talking to Ishi, she ignores me as though I don't exist.  It's as though I've become an invisible ghost... an invisible ghost that can make no sound that Ishi can hear.  Why is this happening?  I have absolutely no idea.  I guess it's because I'm not rich?

皆ボーナスを貰う！ 皆！！ ７０万とか！

鉄: 「皆ボーナスを貰う！ 皆！！ ７０万とか！」

石: その時、「.......」を言いましたが、後ちょっとインタネットに見たら：

民間企業・製造業　361,000円　-0.9％(前年比)
民間企業・非製造業　479,300円　-0.7％

じゃ... 石の奴は、また大げさを言ったのか...、 年間か？ まっ、どちにしても、この二十一世紀の会社は、正社員よりも、契約社員とかアルバイト見たいに人を使う。 それで、僕は、ボーナスを貰わないだから、すべて、僕が悪いと言う言い方は... ちょっとおかしいと思います！

Tetsu: "Most People Get Bonuses! Around Y700,000!!"

Ishi: I didn't say anything in reply to that, but the army of contract workers I saw - outnumbering the "seishain" (permanent workers) while I was at BigCorp - came to mind, and I thought "One reason companies hire ever fewer permanent employees is so they don't have to pay bonuses to the disposable employees!" - but of course I didn't say that. That would just be asking for more pain....

Later, I looked on-line about average bonus figures and noticed a couple of different figures (one Y361,000, and one Y479,300, referring to different industries).

Yeah... it must be nice to get a bonus, but I wouldn't know - and of course that makes me a bad, bad, bad person....

Etc., etc.

「どうする-どうする-どうする？！！」

鉄: 「もっとスペースが欲しい。」

石: [ソズゾク... また始まるのか] 「スペース...？」

鉄: 「そう。 あなたの物が多いすぎる。」

石: 「.....................」

鉄: 「無駄な物ばっかり！」

石: 「.....................」

鉄: 「なにも捨てないでしょう！」

石: 「いや、色々捨てたじゃないか」

鉄: 「全然足りない！」

石: 「..................... じゃ、もっと物を捨てる...」

鉄: 「そして、アパートを徹底的にレアレーンレジにしたい。」

石: 「.....................」

鉄: 「例えば、冷蔵庫は、あっちに置きたい。」

石: 「なんで？ 今の所は、一番いいと思うんだけど。」

などなど -


"What are we going to do?! - What are we going to do?!

Tetsu: "We need more space."

Ishi: [Oh no... here we go again.] "Space?"

Tetsu: "Space. You are taking up way too much space in the apartment!"

Ishi: "............................."

Tetsu: "Most of your stuff is just useless junk!"

Ishi: "............................."

Tetsu: "You never throw anything away!"

Ishi: "That's not true! I've thrown a lot of stuff away of the past few years."

Tetsu: "Not nearly enough!"

Ishi: ".......... Okay, I'll throw away more things then."

Tetsu: "I also want to completely rearrange the apartment."

Ishi: "............................."

Tetsu: "For example, I want to move the refrigerator over into that far corner."

Ishi: "Why? Where it is now is the perfect place for it!"

Etc. etc. -

冷たい... 寒い...

家の中は寒い、鉄さんが冷たい。 寒いプラス冷たい... 骨まで寒くなる。 助けてくれ！


Cold... So Cold....

A cold apartment... a cold Tetsu-san.  Cold place, cold atmosphere... chilling to the bone.  Help!

ある夜の夕飯

石: 「.........................」

鉄: 「.........................」

何か話した方がいいかなと思って：

石: 「... 田中さんは、最近どうしているかな？」

鉄: 「... 知らない - 今まで通りじゃない？」

石: 「...........」

ダメだ！ 話さない方がいい見たい....

田中さんは、鉄さんの友人で、今まで色々な田中さんに対しての話をしたのになぁ....



"Dinner One evening...."

Ishi: "........................"

Tetsu: "........................"

Thinking it would be best to say something:

Ishi: "So how is Tanaka-san doing these days?"

Tetsu: "I don't know.  Probably the same as before."

Ishi: "..........."

Well - so much for attempting to have a conversation!

(Ishi and I used to talk about her good friend Tanaka-san and what she was up to from time to time....)

離婚?!?

「出来れば、離婚したい」彼女(鉄)が突然言い出した。

「.... んんんなに？！？.....」僕(石)が考えた。 言葉を出す勇気はなかった。 何しろ小石を鉄さんの方に投げるとミサイルが戻ってくる。

その先週の日から、鉄は、ものすごく冷たい - で、この石の僕は、寂しい+困る。 どうなるだろう？ 不景気で、仕事がゼロじゃないけど、ゼロ近いに少ない。 未来は、一体どうなる？

2011年は恐ろしいです... かねぇぇ....

The Ishi and Tetsu Story

Divorce?

"I think I would like a divorce" Tetsu suddenly said one not-so-fine day last week.

"..... D... Divorce?  Did she really just say that?" I (Ishi) silently thought.  I probably should have verbally addressed the issue right then and there, but experience has taught me that if I figuratively toss a tiny pebble in Tetsu's direction, she answers with a full-force large iron cannonball.

Since that day, Tetsu has frozen me out and I feel like an unwanted stray dog in my own home.  Part of the problem or the (main) problem is the bad economy.  I have very little employment right now - just enough to pay for train fare and a few other things.  So... what's going to happen?

Is 2011 going to be a year of raging storms?  [Shudder...]