When I was a teenager, I used to attend what could laughably be called a Bible Study. I say “laughable”, because it was for teenagers, and I may have been the only person in that room with a Bible, and ready to study. I didn’t know what that meant, but that was the purpose of the meeting, and so, I was ready to do what was necessary.
That did not happen, though. They did everything but. They played stupid games, they announced social events, they did absolutely everything but study the Bible. And every time I left that meeting, I left feeling like those who I was stuck with were absolute idiots. Not only including the ministers, but especially the ministers.
Truth be told, what they were probably doing, was trying to keep the youth from leaving entirely – and too much studying of the Bible would probably have done that. I even recognized that at the time, but my attitude was, “let them leave, if they’re not interested in doing what they’re supposed to!”.
This is an attitude I’ve carried entirely throughout my adult life, for better or for worse. I come to a job to do the job, and I’m not too interested in any social events or niceties, except as they directly pertain to the job. For example, the company I work for has a nonprofit, and every year (except, obviously, this one) they hold different social events to raise money for the nonprofit. I don’t mind doing this, but that’s because I see doing so as a part of my job duties, when I’m doing it. But there are other events, some of which pertain to “social justice”, and some to other things, that I do not participate in. It’s not job related, so I don’t care. It’s not what I came there to do. My attitude is “do it on your own time”. Obviously many people disagree with me. I think that is a cause of my ongoing anxiety.
I believe so strongly in this that there is a certain line that I will not cross, and leave a job before I cross it. My company has not hit that point yet, but given the current climate, I’m planning for the eventuality, as it may be inevitable.
There was or is (I can’t be arsed to look it up, Sorry Okada-san) named Okada Nana. She had a very “serious” character – which apparently extended to her off camera persona as well. She seemed to have that same attitude of “I came here to do a job and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability”. In fact, that seemed to be so ingrained in her that they pulled a huge prank on her by having someone in a pretend position of authority continue making more and more unreasonable demands on her. She never broke, she never cracked, in fact, her smile never left her face. She did exactly what was asked of her to the best of her ability. She took her job so seriously that she was pushing all of her ego aside and just did her job. She did seem relieved when the dokkiri was revealed, but that doesn’t change the fact that she was extremely serious about what she was doing.
And, as I said, that extended to off camera as well. She was a member of AKB48, and she would scold all of the other girls when they would cuss or behave in a yankii manner – except for those girls who were trying to develop a character that needed those “unsavory” qualities. Not only did she take it seriously, but she demanded the people around her take it seriously as well.
She was teased for this, obviously, because every idol in the public eye eventually gets teased for something (they got Takahashi Minami good with a chair prank) but this was something that they seemed to value about her. I think this is a Japanese cultural thing. You do your job, whatever it is, to the best of your ability, because that’s what you came there to do.
They called her “serious”. I believe the Japanese word they used was “majime”. This word can also mean “dedicated”.
In my culture, there seems to be no such thing. People do not seem to come to a job to work – at least not entirely. They want to have fun, do extracurricular stuff, etc – “work hard, play hard”, they say. I don’t fit into this way of thinking, and I don’t think I ever will. I have a job to do, and I intend to do it to the best of my ability – and then I intend on signing off and not having to think about work and coworkers again until I sign in the next day. I’m just not interested. I have a job to do. And I’ve had to lower my expectations, again and again, as the people I have worked with simply don’t seem to have this kind of ethos. Don’t get me wrong. They do their jobs, they’re often competent, but they just don’t seem to take it as seriously as I do.
Now, that sense of majime causes problems, too. I don’t tend to build close (or even casual) relationships with coworkers, and I resent it when they try. I stay away from all extracurricular activities unless required, and leave at the first opportunity. I’m sure I come across as hard-working, but aloof. I don’t mind this, personally, but it’s really not a way to get ahead, at least in American culture.
Maybe it is in Japanese culture. At least to a little more of a degree. They do have extracurricular activities, but these are kind of regimented, and you know what to expect. Just as you would expect from Japanese culture. I don’t drink, so that could be an issue, but otherwise…. eh. Who knows.
I have much more in common with Okada-san, in that regard, than I do with probably ninety-nine percent of my own countrymen. Which makes me seriously wonder if I’m in the right culture.