The last Friday afternoon of August in olde Nagoyaland....and seemingly the last of the fine weather we'll be seeing for a few days, as the 'mother of all typhoons' gradually picks up strength and aims itself for a broad swathe of the Japanese main island of which Honshu, upon which yours truly and the fabled Nagoyaland sit pretty much dead centre. Good times. Typhoons are always exciting, and unpredictable. They speed up, slow down, change directions, show up when and where they're not supposed to, or fail to materialise when and where they're expected.
On the positive side, it's a break in the monotony, and, provided you're not stranded out at some remote location on a stopped train...a good excuse to stay home from work and watch movies...or read, if you're into bucking technology and going old school. I guess we'll have to keep the impending storm in mind when we do our weekly round of shopping tomorrow.
Depending on the severity of whatever comes flying off the Pacific at us, the city pretty much grinds to a halt. Except for the convenience stores. This is the land of convenience. I swear, there's one on every block...sometimes two. It's mind boggling. I think it's actually hit saturation. I can't see how life could get any more 'convenient'. How do they all stay in business? Lawson, Circle K, Family Mart, 7-11, Daily Yamazaki, Coco Store, Sunkus, Mini-Stop...these are just the ones that come to mind. When I came out here for the first time, in 1989, it wasn't like this. There were a few scattered 'conbini' as the J-locals call them, but nothing on the scale of what we see now. One stop everything. Do your banking, pay your bills, pick up concert tickets, take a dump, buy liquor, food and sundries...you name it. 24-7. Don't like the looks of the clerk? Hate their rice balls? Go down the street to the next one. It's easy to forget that things aren't like this everywhere else in the world. Here, no matter what time of day it is, I'm never more than ten minutes away from whatever I want. A bottle of whiskey at 3:30 am on Sunday? No problem...if that's your prerogative. In other places, stores close. Booze, in particular, is locked down between particular hours. Certain things can't be done at certain times. Things can be...IN-convenient. Life requires planning, and timing. Slip up, and miss the boat...and you're shit out of luck. Gone are the days of the 10:45 pm mad dash to the only beer and wine store in the neighbourhood, on a Saturday night, with clocks ticking and hearts racing, to slide in the door at 10:57, three minutes before closing...and arrive back at home base 20 minutes later to a rapturous hero's welcome, libations in hand.
Looking back now on the Vancouver I grew up in...it seems that getting ANYTHING was a challenge. Here I am, edging up on a half-century. Addicted to convenience. I guess I can take comfort in the fact that, even in the middle of the night, at the height of a raging typhoon, if I suddenly feel the uncontrollable urge to brave the elements, go pay my gas bill, eat some low-end sushi, and skull a bottle of cheap sake...it's as good as done. Oh...and good places to rob? Hell, yeah. This seems to be a real thing with the J-natives these days, what with the economy kind of being in the (permanent) shitter. The hauls of cash intrepid knife wielding 'conbini-goto' can make on any given night are also pretty impressive. We're talking THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for wearing a hoodie and a surgical mask, then popping down the street to wave a kitchen knife around.
Back in the days of yore, I was a 7-11 night man in Vancouver. This was the dodgiest job I've ever had...but alas...that's a story for another day.
One of the first things that they drilled into our heads at 7-11 school (yes - that's right. 7-11 school) was crime prevention - to prepare us for the distinct possibility that some desperate maniac would indeed try their luck on us at some point in our careers as convenience professionals. 'Cash management' was the biggest deterrent strategy. As soon as there was $200.00 in the till, we'd have to take out a hundred, stick it in a plastic tube, and fire it into the drop safe, which operated on a timer. This meant that there was never enough cash on hand to make the considerable risk of trying to pull off a robbery a worthwhile proposition. A sign on the door boldly announced this fact to all who entered. I suppose this had some effect...as I was never robbed. At least not directly. I'm sure that people shop lifted the shit out of the place, anyways. Watching Japanese T.V., it seems that these joints are getting knocked off pretty much constantly...and for the bandits that make a clean getaway, the rewards seem, as I mentioned, substantial. This all leads me to wonder why the top brass of these chains wouldn't have bothered doing a little research into how to successfully circumvent this problem, and make their stores a bit safer and more secure for both their staff and customers, alike? It seems kind of...basic? Another case of J-arrogance? Or is it all just too IN-convenient? It boggles the mind.
Have a lovely weekend, one and all.
