Driven by the urge to update the blog, I'm updating.
That said, I don't have a strong topic in mind, so as usual a few things floating in my head.
[1: A close university friend's current situation]
Starting with what made me want to write.
One of my close friends from university started studying for the certified public accountant exam right after graduation.
He's roughly into year five or so.
The CPA exam has something like a first and second stage.
He's been studying while working as an adult, so securing study time is hard, and he hasn't passed either yet.
Since university he's taken transfer exams, and before entering university he came in via so-called masked ronin from another school — he's taken university-entrance-level tests more times than most people.
Taking on a national CPA exam harder than that after graduation seems insane to me, but luckily he apparently finds studying fun.
I can't understand it at all, and I truly respect him.
The day before writing this, Dec 11 (Sun), was the first-stage (short-answer) exam.
Knowing that in advance, today I messaged: "Congrats on finishing the exam. When you've settled, let's get a drink."
Since graduating we meet about once a year.
He replied: from self-scoring, on pass/fail he's right around barely failing.
(If 70% is the line, around 69%. It shifts a bit year to year, so maybe he passed — that level.)
Apparently he'd been on leave the last half year to focus on studying, and from the messages he seemed pretty worn down mentally.
Being able only to cheer is frustrating, but I sent as much encouragement as I could. (And we're drinking next week.)
With his thank-you he sent a message along these lines:
"I respect you as a person. Watching you think about the value of your life and keep pushing every day — I respect that."
Happy on one hand; on the other I thought for a while — am I really working hard enough to deserve words that generous?
Without much time to think, the answer was No — the gap between the future self I once imagined and who I am now is chillingly wide.
Not only me — him too, and most people in the world, I figured.
I didn't spiral into self-loathing.
There are also unexpected futures that turned out better (i.e. the present).
(Plus, in my case, I can't set a distant huge goal and stack days toward it.)
So I sent something like: "Thanks for the praise, but I'm a mess of a mess of a mess of a human — if past-me saw present-me he'd cry!"
[2: Hard workers]
At an acquaintance's company, a highly accomplished, excellent person joined with fanfare.
He called work his hobby, truly worked with energy, and quickly earned trust inside.
To cut to the conclusion: he left early.
Simply put, I sensed the mental side hit a limit.
I can't say details, but knowing some of the circumstances, I felt deeply sad.
Not quite burnout either — I imagine there was a moment when something in him simply snapped, beyond what he could do about it.
If I ask whether I'm a hard worker, I think I fall in that category — but you can't hard-work in every environment.
For example, when too much of the environment is outside your control, days only get stifling.
I'm careful about that myself.
But hard workers often want to meet what people ask of them, so many overdo it.
"Good" pride is high too, so they don't lean on others or voice weakness.
Hard workers also have strong gravity — work keeps flying in — and at some point they suddenly break.
We're human; even if you're somewhat tough, the energy to face environmental force alone is limited. That was the feeling from this episode.
[3: A person from the future]
That got heavy, so a short anecdote at the end.
While home in Osaka I had a remote meeting while out, so I ducked into a private karaoke room with Wi-Fi and charging.
After a few hours of work I was leaving when a man spoke to me at the exit.
"What prefecture is this?" he asked.
Definitely Osaka, so I answered "Osaka Prefecture."
Instantly I wondered why he'd ask something so obvious. (※ Probably not a ken vs. fu quiz.)
Possibilities: he'd suddenly time-slipped from the future, didn't know where he was, and asked the nearest human.
Or he was mid-prank, blindfolded and dumped in front of a karaoke box.
After a few seconds of silence he said:
"Um, I booked karaoke, but it seems this isn't the right store."
Conclusion: not "what ken (prefecture)" — he'd asked "what ten (store)." My mishearing.
I quickly searched the place he'd booked on Google Maps, gave directions verbally, and we parted.
Not a person from the future after all — I started walking and laughed a little.
That's all.
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