Puppycow
Penultimate Amazing
I have to rant about some obscure social custom here in Japan that has long outlived it's usefulness. It's called the Bell Mark, and what it is a system in which food companies put a little mark on their package labels, which indicates a bell and a number of points, often one or 1.5, which can be redeemed to buy educational supplies (1 point = 1 yen or a little less than a penny). So when people (esp. parents with schoolchildren) buy food at the grocery store, they can cut out these little marks, gather them, and turn them into their local PTA (which, BTW, is not optional for parents in Japan; if you have a child in school, you are expected to participate).
Last year my wife was in charge of gathering and sorting these bell marks. She had to sort them by company and calculate each company's respective contribution. Considering just her time alone, she told me she spent about 10 hours total in this endeavor, collecting the marks from each household and tallying and getting them ready to take to wherever they take them to redeem them. The marks totaled about 800 points, or in other words 800 yen. BTW, minimum wage in Japan is about 800 yen per hour. I said: look, I'd rather pay them 5000 yen in cash than have you go through this, but she said that this is something you just have to do, you don't question it. People would think we are trying to shirk our responsibilities. Since I'm a foreigner, I figured it probably isn't my place to make a stink about this. It is kind of a tradition. Oh well. But I'm definitely throwing away my bell marks. I won't add to the problem. Next year it will be someone else's turn. Maybe eventually someone will stand up and point out that the Emperor has no clothes, but not this year.
BTW, the mandatory PTA thing also means that very few Japanese women work outside the home while their kids are in school. In effect, it is a barrier to participation in the workforce.
Last year my wife was in charge of gathering and sorting these bell marks. She had to sort them by company and calculate each company's respective contribution. Considering just her time alone, she told me she spent about 10 hours total in this endeavor, collecting the marks from each household and tallying and getting them ready to take to wherever they take them to redeem them. The marks totaled about 800 points, or in other words 800 yen. BTW, minimum wage in Japan is about 800 yen per hour. I said: look, I'd rather pay them 5000 yen in cash than have you go through this, but she said that this is something you just have to do, you don't question it. People would think we are trying to shirk our responsibilities. Since I'm a foreigner, I figured it probably isn't my place to make a stink about this. It is kind of a tradition. Oh well. But I'm definitely throwing away my bell marks. I won't add to the problem. Next year it will be someone else's turn. Maybe eventually someone will stand up and point out that the Emperor has no clothes, but not this year.
BTW, the mandatory PTA thing also means that very few Japanese women work outside the home while their kids are in school. In effect, it is a barrier to participation in the workforce.
