Yesterday I ran into a bit of Japan that I tend to do a fairly good job of avoiding on the train ride home. The Japanese like rules and tend to follow them simply because they are the rules as opposed to because the rules serve good purposes. It seems as if the concept of the letter of the law was as far as they got in judicial theory and failed to develop the critical perspective of searching for the spirit and intended purpose. As a result, the rules that are there don't really need a particular justification; they deserve to be followed simply because they are the rules. There is no need to question them either.
As you may know, cell phones in Japan are a big deal. People live on the cell phones here. Lately the interconnectivity of text messaging, email, and web browsing on the phones has alleviated the problem, but the disruption caused by people, often young adults and teenagers, yakking on their phones really achieve social crisis levels. Many people adopt a very conservative phone stance, cupping one hand over their mouth so as not to disrupt those around them, but enough didn't that trains especially enacted rules against using phones.
Commuter trains don't really enforce it; there is just an announcement and some signs and PSA posters that remind people that it causes others discomfort (there are also nice PSA signs that remind us to give up our seats to the old and infirm. Always 'cutely' illustrated too.). On the longer distance trains, the seating carriage is enclosed in seperate doors with alleys (I can't think of a better term to describe the little hallways between doors) that house the entrances and washrooms. The carriages are better insulated and not as noisy or cold, but because they are quieter and not as crowded (long distance trains have forward facing seats, often assigned on the ticket, as opposed to bench seats running along the wall), the rules say we should move to the alleys when we have to talk on the phones.
Of course I do not do this, as I feel that I am above the rules and only suckers follow the rules. No, of course that isn't my reasoning, but I don't move to the alleys partly because they are noisy and cold and partly because I take care not to talk loudly when I'm on the phone. I've noticed it is a natural tendency for many people to talk louder on a cell phone especially, as if the volume you speak somehow aids in the tranmission clarity of your message. I've learned that the phones do a more than adequate job of picking up your voice as long as it isn't a whisper; just speak in a low volume conversational tone and no one on the other end will know. I tested this plenty. Plus my phone calls aren't more than two or three minutes 90% of the time and its hardly worth the effort to get up and move to the alleys. I'd make more of a distracting commotion moving around that my voice does on the phone.
So anyway, to get on with my story, there I was talking to my wife on my home, just to give her the vital information about my arrival time and to get a brief update on the baby's status, speaking in low non-distracting voice when an employee passes by and notices I'm holding a plastic electronic device to my head. He interrupts me and tries to tell me to go to the alley but I ignore him and finish up my conversation. He tries to explain to me that I can't talk on my phone in the seating carriage and have to move to the alley (and he made a good effort in English, to his credit). But I asked him if it was accceptable to talk to one's neighbor when they sit next to you, and he conceded that was within the rules. I then explained to him that I use the same if not quieter voice when I talk on the phone, hence there shouldn't be an issue. He still felt that I should move to the alley, but I was finished and went back to reading my book.
So here is my gripe. The rules were made because people were being a nuisance on the phones. I take care not to be a nuisance. There are NOT any rules about loud obaachans who talk across seats and aisles to each other, laughing and providing running commentary on their lives and the passing scenery for the duration of the trip. Nor are there any rules to prevent children from running around and playing in the carriage. I've been distracted from my reading, music, and sleep by these culprits far more often than from phones, and I usually am pretty good about blocking stuff out. In my mind, the rules should be focused on reducing distractions; if it isn't distracting, the rules don't apply.
The train employees just don't see it that way. It sounds like a piddling matter, and I suppose at the end of the day it is. It didn't upset me enough to get riled up or anything, but it was annoying that I got singled out when I was making the effort to not cause a ruckus. If he hadn't seen the phone in my hand, he never would realized that I was even talking on it. But such is the variety of life in Japan.
Comments and discussion are welcome
Posted by Nutrimentia at December 13, 2003 12:28 PM | TrackBack