何を隠そう、私は大のドラゴンズファンなので14時から始まっている中日巨人戦のテレビをつけた。テレビは小音量にしつつも、画面で試合運びは観たいという心理だ。よっしーもそれをちらちらみながら、私の「はいっ」という掛け声に合わせてスキャンのボタンを押していた。私は時折野球のルールをよっしーに説明した。ルールもわからずに観るのはきっと苦痛だろうと考えたからだ。よっしーはじ～っ、じ～っとスキャナーが働いている間、手を止めて野球を映し出しているテレビ画面を注視した。

私の家から1時間30分はかかる寮に住んでいるよっしーを門限22時までには帰さなければならないので、夕飯に誘うもパパっと食べる必要がある。その日は遅いスタートだったので18時半までバイトをしてもらい、4時間で4,000円のバイト料と交通費を渡した。その後、私が行きつけのイタリアンで夕飯を食べてから帰る？と聞くと、「はい、是非！」と言うので、30年来の地元のイタリアンに出向いた。イタリアン・レストランには店主とその奥様の他、バイトの女性がいた。私はよっしーのことを「うちの会社の仕事を手伝ってくれているバイト君」と紹介した。大学1年生であることも伝えると、レストランで働いていた女性も実は大学1年生であるということがわかった。彼女は帰国子女なのか9月入学なのだがという前置きつきである。

よっしーと私は、まずはドリンク付きのタパス3種セットを注文した。よっしーは案の定ジンジャエールを注文した。私は、この時間になって飲みたい気分だったのでビールを頼んだ。よっしーは来たジンジャエールを一口飲むと、「おいしい！」とつぶやいた。「へぇ～。寿司屋でもジンジャエール飲んだのに、こっちのはおいしいってこと？」と訊いた。よっしーは「全然違います！」と答えた。店主が気さくに「うちのはちょっと違うんですよ。辛口でいいやつを入れているから。」と。よっしーは、うんうんとうなづきながらさもありなんというように満足気だった。

よっしーがうちで写真のデジタル化をしている話を店主に話すと、とてもいいハンド・スキャナーがあると紹介してくれた。寸時にPCなどに取り込めるので領収書などのスキャンに使っているとのこと。1万円台で買えるし、プリンターのスキャナー機能より速いという。それを聞いたよっしーは「それ買ったら、僕の仕事がなくなる」とボソッと呟く。

よっしーはメインにミートソース・スパゲッティを注文した。私はマルゲリータ・ピザを注文したが、昼の寿司が遅い時間だったので全部食べ切れる自信がなかった。ピザが来た時、半分はよっしーが食べていいよと伝えた。よっしーは「え!?いいんですか？」というも嬉しそうに頬張っていた。寮の門限を気にしながらレストランを20時ちょっと過ぎには後にした。今日のこともあるし、自分ひとりで無事帰れるか不安になり、私もよっしーと電車に乗り込んだ。乗り込んでよかった。来る電車来る電車、どうやら千葉方面には行かず東京行きになっていた。御茶ノ水で総武線に乗り換えるという至難の業をよっしーに口頭で教えてうまくいくかどうか自信がなかった。一緒にいたからスムーズに乗り換えを達成した。秋葉原に着いてから千葉方面の別の電車に乗り換えるのには改札を一度出なければならなかったが、それは改札の手前から「出たら左だよ～」と叫びながら指示した。よっしーはペコペコ振り返りながら改札を出て左の方向に歩いて消えていった。寮に着いたらラインしてねと約束した。よっしーから21時53分に「無事に帰れました」とラインが来た。あ～、よかったと胸を撫で下ろした。

Yossi arrived at a little before 14:00, which was much later than 12:30 we initially agreed.  In spite of his tardiness, I suspected that he had not eaten lunch, so we went straight to non-go-around Sushi restaurant for lunch.  Yossi probably felt bad about being late, so he did not order a la carte menu.  He ordered a lunch set menu, which is much cheaper than a la carte.  Yossi seems to like ginger ale, as far as I can observe.  We ate fast and returned home, and started making digital copies of my old photos.  The scanner was making a noise, while scanning my old photos.

As a matter of fact, I am a big fan of the Dragons baseball team, and their ball game against the Giants started at 14:00.  So, I turned on my TV to watch the game.  I turned down the volume to the lowest level so that it would not interfere with our work.  I could at least glance at how the game was going while working.  I said, “go” and Yossi pressed the start button to scan.  Occasionally, I explained to Yossi some rules of the baseball game.  I thought it would be painful to watch a baseball game without knowing the rules.  Yossi stared at the baseball game on TV from his work while the scanner was performing its roles.

It takes at least 1.5 hours from my house to his dormitory, so I thought we would need to eat our dinner fast in order for him to arrive at his dormitory before the curfew.  He started his work quite late, so I asked him to work till 18:30 rather than usual 17:00, so that I could give him at least four hours-worth of wages.  I handed JPY4,000 plus his transportation to Yossi, and asked him if he wanted to go to the Italian restaurant I often goes to.  He immediately responded, “yes, please.”  So, I took him to the Italian restaurant I often go to.  I have been going there for as long as thirty years.  There was a restaurant owner, his wife and one other girl as a waitress.  I introduced Yossi as “a part-time worker to help out my own business”.  I said that he was a freshman at college.  We found out that the waitress was also a college student, but she started college in September last year rather than in April this year.  She must be a returnee from overseas.

Yossi and I ordered three tapas – drink set.  I should have known, but Yossi ordered ginger ale.  I was in a mood for a glass of beer, so that is what I ordered.  Yossi drank a sip of ginger ale and murmured, “taste good”.  “Oh, you drank ginger ale at the Sushi restaurant, but you mean this one tastes better?”  “The other one is not even close” say Yossi.  Then, the restaurant owner says, “we stock something different.  Our ginger ale is a bit spicier.”  Yossi looked very satisfied with the fact that he realized this drink was something superior than what he had at the Sushi restaurant.  He nodded a few times with a satisfied look.

When I mentioned to the restaurant owner that Yossi was helping me with digitalizing my old pictures, using my regular printer, he introduced his handy scanner, which he says works great.  It scans his receipts instantly and send them to his PC.  He says it costs only about a little over JPY10,000, and moreover, it is much faster than the printer.  Yossi muttered, “if you buy it, I will be out of my job”.

Yossi ordered meat sauce spaghetti.  I ordered Margherita Pizza, but since I ate a late lunch, I did not think I could finish my pizza alone.  So, when my pizza was served, I said to Yossi that he could have half of mine.  Yossi shouted, “are you sure?” and he stuffed his month with a piece of my pizza.  I was getting worried about the dormitory’s curfew, so we left the restaurant at a little after 20:00.  We had a little adventure today in regards to the transportation, so I was not sure if Yossi could go home safe and sound.  I hopped on the same train, as the train at this hour was bound for Tokyo not for Chiba.  I had to make sure that Yossi transferred to a different train at Ochanomizu Station.  On weekends at night, the train schedule seems to change.  I wouldn’t have been able to explain this extra transfer task to Yossi verbally.  So it was good that I took the train with him.  At Akihabara Station, I reminded Yossi to go through the exit gate, and turn left to catch another train.  I shouted at Yossi, “go outside and turn left!”  Yossi bowed a few times, looking back at me, and disappeared.  I asked him to send me a Line message once he arrives home safely.  Yossi sent me a Line message, “I arrived home safely.”  Good Lord.  I felt a deep sense of relief.

12時頃、Lineで何時に最寄り駅に着くか聞いてみた。すると突然電話がかかってきて「今〇〇駅です」というのだが、はっきり〇〇駅が聞き取れず、もうすぐ着くと思い最寄り駅に出向いた。Lineで「今、駅に着きました。今どこらへん？」と聞いてみると、すかさず電話が鳴った。「実は今、大学近くの駅にやっと着いたところで、これから電車に乗ります」ということだった。「じゃあ14時頃には着くね。うちの最寄り駅の1つ手前の駅に着いたらLineしてね。駅で待ち合わせましょう」と書くと「はい、わかりました。お願いします」と返事が来た。13時47分に「着きました。今、どこにいますか？」とLineが来た。私は「はや。今行きます」と言って家を出て最寄り駅に走った。しかし、よっしーの姿は見えなかった。うちの最寄り駅は改札が1つしかないので、北口とか南口という表記がない。しかし、駅の北側も南側も走って見に行ったが、よっしーの姿はなかった。

私は不安になり電話した。「今どこ？」「えーっと、北口です。」私は携帯電話を耳に当てながら線路の北側のエリアに走っていって探したがよっしーはいない。「どこ？△△駅にちゃんといる？」と最寄り駅名を言うと、「あっ」という驚きの声を発した。「××駅にいます。」私はどうして？と思いながらも「ああ、ひとつ前の駅で降りちゃったんだね。」と確認した。多分、私が1つ手前の駅に着いたらLineしてねと言ったため、1つ手前の駅に着いたから電車を降りたのだと思った。最寄り駅が△△駅だということは過去2回、職員さんと来ているのだからわかっているはずなのだけど、どうして1つ手前の見慣れない駅に降りて、着きましたとなったのだろう。不思議だった。

私は一つ手前の××駅にいるよっしーに「1番線に来る□□行きの電車に乗ったら1駅で△△駅だから、そこで降りて」と電話で伝えた。今度こそ大丈夫と最寄り駅で待っていた。しかし、10分待ってもよっしーは来ない。不安になって電話すると、ほとんどパニック状態のよっしーが「今◇◇駅に来てしまって」という。ああ、逆方向の電車に乗ってしまったんだ。「じゃあ、降りて反対側に□□行きの電車が来たら乗って。2つ目が△△駅だから」と伝えた。「わかりました。今度こそ大丈夫です！」と力強いよっしーの返事だった。

One day, I sent a Line message to Yossi to see if he wanted to come to my house again to work.  The agreed date was one Saturday which was two weeks after the Golden Week.  I wanted get rid of my old pictures, plus Yossi had not started looking for a part-time job yet as he just became a college student.  He probably needed some allowance for himself.  Yossi came to my house twice already, so I thought he could come to my house from Chiba without getting lost.  I reminded him to transfer at Akihabara into Sobu Line.  He was supposed to come to my house at 10 am. on that day; however, he sent me a Line message, requesting the start time to be changed to 12:30.  I responded that was okay.

At around noon, I sent a Line message asking what time he would arrive at the destination.  Then, suddenly he called me and said, “I am at such and such station”, but I could not capture this such and such station name.  I assumed that he would arrive shortly so I headed toward the nearest station.  I sent a Line message, asking “I arrived at the nearest station. Where are you now?”  Then, the phone rang again immediately.  “As a matter of fact, I am still at the railway station nearest my college.  I will be hopping on a train now.” was his response.  “OK.  Then, you will be here at around 14:00, right?”  When you arrive at one station before the final destination, please send me a Line message.  I will meet you at the station.”  Yossi responded “yes, understood.  Thanks.”  At 13:47, he sent me a Line message, “I have just arrived.  Where are you?”  I said, “that was quick.  I will head toward the station now.”  I rushed to the station, but I could not find Yossi anywhere.  The station did not have north exit nor south exit as there is one exit, so I ran to the north side of the track and the south side of the track to see if Yossi was waiting there, but no Yossi.

I was worried and called him.  “Where are you now?” “Well, at the north exist.”  I ran to the north side of the railway track, while keeping my mobile phone on my ear, but there is no Yossi.  “Where are you?  Are you at this such and such station?”  I gave him the exact station name where he was supposed to get off, and then, “Oh” he uttered.  “I am at XX station.”  I said to myself “why?” but said to him, “Oh, you got off one station before the final destination, then.” to double check.  I thought that he misunderstood what I said earlier, i.e., send me a Line message when you arrive at one station before the destination, so he got off at one station before the destination rather than sending me a message.  Yossi should know that the station he needs to get off to come to my house was this station as he had come here twice in the past along with the supervisor, so I was just perplexed how he could have said he had arrived at the station when he got off at the station he was not familiar with.  That was a complete mystery to me.

I instructed to Yossi, “please go to the track number 1 and hop on the train bound for such and such.  After one stop, that is the final destination for you to get off.”  I was sure that this instruction would bring him here safely.  I waited for ten minutes, but there comes no Yossi.  I was now very worried and I called Yossi.  He was in a panic, saying “I arrived at such and such station now.”  Oh, my goodness.  He took the train bound for Chiba, the other direction.  “OK, get off the train and hop on the train which comes to the other side of the platform.  The second stop from that station is your final destination.”  “Got it.  I think I can do it this time.” was his strong response.

10時に到着して12時か12時半にはまかないのお昼ごはんを振舞う。とはいっても私がキッチンに立つ訳ではなく、駅近辺の飲食店を選んで連れて行くのである。2日前は回らない回転寿司だったが、近辺にあるレストランが何系かをリストアップすると、今回はすかさずインドカレーということになった。このレストランはオーナーが1回は変わっているのだが、今のオーナーも前回同様インドかパキスタンかそちら方面からいらした方だ。よっしーと女の子、職員さんを引き連れて徒歩5分ほどのインドカレー店に出向く。セットメニューがあるので、それを各自選択。ちょっとプラスするとナンの食べ放題をチーズ入りナンに変更することができる。

よっしーはすかさずチーズ入りナンを選択した。18歳とはいえ、一般の男子よりも小柄でやせているよっしーがこんなに大食漢であることが不思議だ。女の子と私は普通のナンのセットメニューを選んだ。皆、とにかく黙々と食べた。職員さんはどうやら辛党のようで辛さ4とか5を指定していたので、それでなくとも汗かきなのに、汗だくで食べていた。お昼が終わるとまた自宅に戻り、古い写真のデジタル化が始まった。14時くらいになった時、私は女の子に猫のシャンプーを頼んだ。動物に興味のある女の子は猫のお世話も仕事としてやりたいということを言っていたので、この仕事は前回来た時にすでにお願いしていたのだ。女の子が老猫のシャンプーで格闘していた頃、私はよっしーとタッグを組んで古い写真のデジタル化を行った。

夕方までにデジタル化できた枚数は60枚ｘ5時間＝300枚程度だったと思う。プリンターがじ～っと音を立てて1枚スキャンするごとに50秒ほどかかるんだから、写真を置いたりする時間を鑑みれば、1枚60秒、1時間で60枚というスピードだ。彼らは10時にバイトを開始し16時に終わる。途中まかない時間があるので実際には5時間弱の作業時間しかない。8,000枚ほどはあるだろう古い写真を2日かけて600枚終わらせた計算になろうか。これからどうしよう、と部屋にまだ存在する35年分の記録を溜息交じりに眺めた。

Yossi and the girl came to my house two days later, of course, accompanied by the supervisor.  They came back to my house as there were still tons of old photos which needed to be digitalized.  Yossi may be accustomed to me a little bit?  This is their second time, so they came in and slipped their feet into the slippers I prepared for them.  Yossi sat in front of the laptop, while the girl put a photo under the printer’s lid.  The supervisor was patiently waiting for the scanned photos to be handed over to him for shredding.

They arrived at 10 a.m. and by noon or 12:30, I treat them to lunch.  I don’t cook, but take them out to wherever they want to go to.  I list up some possible menu around the railway station, and I take them to the place they want to go to.  Two days ago, we went to this non-go-around Sushi restaurant, but today, they immediately decided on Indian curry when I gave them a list.  This Indian restaurant’s owner changed at least once, but this new owner is also from India or Pakistan.  I took Yossi, the girl and the supervisor to this Indian restaurant, which is about five minutes away.  There was a set menu, so we all selected that.  If we add a few hundred yen, we can get cheese naan.

Yossi immediately ordered the cheese naan.  Even though he is 18 years old, Yossi is much smaller than an average 18-year old boy.  So, it is amazing that Yossi has a big appetite.  The girl and I ordered set menu with regular naan.  Nobody said a word while eating.  The supervisor obviously liked spicy food.  He ordered his curry at level 4 or 5 spiciness.  He was eating his ultra-spicy curry while sweating like a pig.  After lunch, we returned home and resumed work, i.e., digitalization of my old photos.  At about 14:00, I asked the girl to shampoo our house cat.  The girl has a strong interest in taking care of animals, so she volunteered to take care of our house cat if there was a need.  Thus, shampooing our house cat was a planned task.  I asked her to be prepared to do so when she was here last time.  When the girl was struggling with our house cat, I paired up with Yossi and continued digitalizing my old photos.

I think the total number of photos which were successfully digitalized was 60 times 5 hours = 300 pictures.  The printer made a dull sound while scanning one picture.  It takes about 50 seconds to scan a picture, it will definitely take about 60 seconds including the time to place a photo under the top lid.  60 seconds per photo makes 60 photos per hour.  They start this task at 10 a.m. and finish at 4 p.m.  In between, we take a little-over-an-hour-long lunch break, leaving us a little less than five hours of work time.  The total number of my old photos was probably around 8,000.  We could have digitalized about 600 photos at this pace over the past two days.  What should I do?  I sighed and stared at the remaining pictures worth 35 years of my life.

女の子が時々、「はいっ」という掛け声をかけ忘れて、よっしーも私がつけたテレビの野球の試合に目が釘付けになって二人の手が止まっていることもあった。職員さんは彼ら2人でも半人前のような作業を申し訳ないと思ってか、彼には時給を払っていないのに一生懸命デジタル化してお役御免になった私の古い写真をせわしなくシュレッダーにかけていた。それも流れ出る汗を自前のタオルでこまめに拭きながら。彼はよっしーと女の子の社会経験として私の家でのバイトを快諾してくれた。もともとは全く別の大学1年生が来るはずだったけど、職員の直前の心変わり（？）、否、判断でよっしーに白羽の矢が立つことになったのだ。

I asked Yossi and the girl to work on digitalization of my old photos at JPY1,000 per hour, plus actual transportation costs.  They were stuff with sushi to their satisfaction, and they went back to work, i.e., digitalizing photos at the extremely slow speed of 50 seconds each.  They used my Canon printer.  Honestly speaking, no one may ever take a look at these digitalized photos even if I make them accessible in a digital form.  Despite such a possibility, I am making them work on thousands of photos.  There are tons of photos of my ex-husband.  I cannot pretend that our 35 years of marriage never happened.  I can decide that I will never look back and move forward; thus, I won't make my photos into a digital form.  I don't think I can shred them without making them into PDF.

The girl sometimes forgets to say "go" and Yossi also kept his eyes on the baseball game which I turned on via J-Com.  So their hand movements came to a hault.  The supervisor seems like he was so apologetic about those two processing only half a man's workload together.  That is why he was hastily shredding the old pictures which were captured in a digital form, one after another without being asked.  He was doing so while wiping off the sweat with his own towel.  He accepted my offer for them to work in my house, as he thought it would be a good experience for both of them.  Initially, a totally different college boy was supposed to come to my house for this part time job, but the supervisor changed his mind at the last minute for some reason, and Yossi was selected at the supervisor's discretion.

職員さんは「おまえら遠慮っていうものがないのか？！」と苦笑いしながら、自分の番を待った。私は切りのいいところで注文するための電子版に手を伸ばし、自分の注文を入力して職員さんに渡した。彼も好きなお寿司を注文した。よっしーと女の子はウニが大好きなようで、一人2皿は注文した。彼らが高いネタの寿司を注文するのとは対照的に職員さんは申し訳ないと思ったのか、安いお寿司を中心に注文していた。この寿司屋には長年来ているが4人で来てお酒も飲まずに1万円を超えたのが後にも先にもこの日が初めてだった。

Yossi, the girl, the supervisor and I went to the nearby Sushi restaurant on that day.  Yossi and the girl went crazy over the menu.  It was not a go-round sushi restaurant, but the price of the sushi was based on the color of the plates.  I am used to this Sushi place, and I always order the same a la carte menu, i.e., Tekka roll, Kappa roll, squid and sprimp.  Those four dishes usually make me full.  Yossi and the girl were looking into the electronic order plate, punching in their orders one after another.  It's been a while since I saw any kids who ordered so many dishes at the Sushi restaurant.  My kids used to eat this much when they were still in their teens, but now they are grown up and do not eat this many sushi dishes.

The supervisor was embarrassed by their uninhibited behavior, saying "are you going to behave in a more reserved manner?"and patiently waited for his turn to order.  After a while, I reached out to the electronic order plate, and I managed to enter my order.  I then passed the order plate over to the supervisor, who entered what he wanted.  Yossi and the girl apparently liked Uni, i.e., sea urchin, and they ordered at least two plates each.  The supervisor ordered all the cheap sushi dishes, looking like he was sorry about the kids' ordering so many expensive dishes.  I have been coming to this Sushi restaurant for many years, and this is the first time that the total bill for the party of four exceeded JPY10,000, and that is without ordering alcohol!

よっしーと女の子は私の古い写真をデジタル化するという作業を手伝ってくれた。というのも、私は最近35年もの結婚生活に終止符を打って離婚したからだ。東京における少ないスペースを占領していた古い写真は処分する必要があったからだ。よっしーと女の子は繰り返されるスキャンという単純作業を忠実にこなしていってくれた。女の子が写真をプリンターに乗せて「はいっ」というと、よっしーは私のラップトップのスキャン・ボタンをクリックした。1枚の写真をスキャンするのに約50秒かかった。スキャンすべき写真は数多とあったため、このペースでは仕事が終わるのは数日はかかるだろうと思われた。

Yossi came to my house for the first time with a 16 year old girl and a supervisor from the children's home where he spent most of his life. Yossi is 18 years old and he just started college this April. Yossi did not look into my eyes when he responded to me, or for that matter, he did not look into anyone's eyes. He was basically very shy and always apologetic for his actions.

Yossi and the girl helped me with digitalizing my old pictures, as I recently got a divorce after 35 years of my marriage. I needed to get rid of old pictures, which took up my limited space in Tokyo. Yossi and the girl were diligent about the simple and repetitious work of scanning. The girl put a photo in the printer, and says, "go". Then, Yossi clicks the scan button on my laptop computer. It takes about 50 seconds to scan one picture. I had so many pictures to scan, but at this pace, it would take a several days to finish the work.