Grumpy

Traveling on the train is always an adventure here in Tokyo. Sometimes, I meet lovely people who share a little smile, a little chocolate, and a warm goodbye. But this morning, this morning, I’ve found only grumpy people. And they are all out to get me. It’s like they smell happiness and they are on a mission to destroy it.

First, a bushy-eyebrows old man stared at me for the longest time a human being can possibly go without blinking. God, he was angry..! But with whom? With me? With himself? With the world? With his mom to stop breastfeeding him? God knows!.

The only thing I might have done to appall him was speaking in English with my husband, so was the old man angry at me for not speaking the local language? Maybe he was mad at himself for not understanding what we were giggling about at seven thirty in the morning. But instead of getting angry, I decided not to let him ruin my day, so I gave him one of my brightest smiles. I think I scared him.

And once I got off at Ginza, things didn’t improve much because I went for a coffee (maybe a little sandwich, as well). And there, I met the female version of the “bushy-eyebrows” old man. Because right in front of me was a “bushy-eyebrows” old lady, who seemed to have forgotten to shave her whiskers and her happiness somewhere along her journey. She looked at me, and her gaze came with a warning “Do not touch my stuff.”

And I gazed back at her like “what?” while munching my chicken sandwich. And now, while the lady is still looking at me, I will leave. I will hide in my office, and I won’t leave until all the grumpy people are back in their caves. Wish me luck.

Originally published at consult-culture.com on July 1, 2018.