日英バイリンガル通信 No. 34 Hiroshi Matsuoka 松 岡 博
HAUNTED BY HIS VOICE
Another hot summer is coming near. Offices, trains, and department stores may be cooled down more than necessary. It’s a waste of electricity. That reminds me of my father.
My father was born in the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Being a man of economy, he saved on water and electricity. When he found water dripping from a faucet, he immediately turned it off. When he found unnecessary light was on, he immediately switched it off. When he found me studying late at night, he said, “Stop studying. Turn the light off and go to bed.” He even used a piece of paper carefully. He made a notebook using fliers whose backsides were blank.
Though he died years ago, I am still haunted by his scolding for wasting things. Sometimes I use the wrong setting on a copy machine. Before I notice, B4 size copies, instead of B5, the size I thought I had set up, come out of the machine. Hurriedly I push the STOP button, but it continues to feed paper as if it will go on forever with the wrong size copies. Sometimes it gives me as many as 10 copies when I need only one, because of the wrong setting. My father would have roared at me. When I am drying my hands with hot air from a drier in a rest room, my father would switch it off. To tell you the truth, I feel guilty whenever I use that electricity eater.
Next come the Christmas lights in winter. They are so colorful that I feel as if I were in a multi-colored fairyland of lights. The instant the light displays on downtown trees and buildings are lit in the evening, the spectators give a shout of admiration. Then, at that very instant my father would turn off the main switch, CLANG!
I hope people in the United States and Japan and many other “advanced electricity wasting countries” will imitate my father, because he was, after all, truly earth-friendly.
Another hot summer is coming near. Offices, trains, and department stores may be cooled down more than necessary. It’s a waste of electricity. That reminds me of my father.
My father was born in the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Being a man of economy, he saved on water and electricity. When he found water dripping from a faucet, he immediately turned it off. When he found unnecessary light was on, he immediately switched it off. When he found me studying late at night, he said, “Stop studying. Turn the light off and go to bed.” He even used a piece of paper carefully. He made a notebook using fliers whose backsides were blank.
Though he died years ago, I am still haunted by his scolding for wasting things. Sometimes I use the wrong setting on a copy machine. Before I notice, B4 size copies, instead of B5, the size I thought I had set up, come out of the machine. Hurriedly I push the STOP button, but it continues to feed paper as if it will go on forever with the wrong size copies. Sometimes it gives me as many as 10 copies when I need only one, because of the wrong setting. My father would have roared at me. When I am drying my hands with hot air from a drier in a rest room, my father would switch it off. To tell you the truth, I feel guilty whenever I use that electricity eater.
Next come the Christmas lights in winter. They are so colorful that I feel as if I were in a multi-colored fairyland of lights. The instant the light displays on downtown trees and buildings are lit in the evening, the spectators give a shout of admiration. Then, at that very instant my father would turn off the main switch, CLANG!
I hope people in the United States and Japan and many other “advanced electricity wasting countries” will imitate my father, because he was, after all, truly earth-friendly.
今でも父にどやされて
また暑い夏がやってくる。会社もデパートも電車もクーラー漬けになリ、ガンガン冷やす。電気の浪費だ。ところで、電気の浪費と言うと父を思い出す。
父は明治生まれで、倹約家、節水家、節電家であった。無駄な水はすぐに蛇口を閉め、無駄な電気はすぐ消した。遅くまで勉強していると「勉強をやめて、電気を消して寝よ」という具合だ。紙一枚でも大事に使い、裏の白い広告は閉じてノートにしていた。
父は数年前他界したが、今でも父に叱られはしないかとビクついている。まず、コピー機を使うときだ。設定を間違えて、B5用紙の代わりにB4用紙がどんどん出てくる。あわててストップボタンを押してもすぐには止まらない。どんどん出てくる。また、一枚でいいところを、設定が１０枚になっており、１０枚も出てきてしまうこともある。父にどやされそうだ。トイレで手を洗って、乾燥機の熱風で手を乾かしているとき父が来てスイッチを切りそうだ。実は、わたしはあの電気浪費機を使う度に罪悪感を感ずる。
次に冬になると行われるクリスマスの電飾イルミネーション。色とりどりのイルミネーションにうっとりしてしまい、まるでおとぎの光の国に入り込んだかと思うぐらいだ。夕方繁華街のビルや樹木の電飾が一斉に灯り、観衆が「おー」と歓声を上げる。その瞬間、父が電飾のメインスイッチを切りそうだ。バチーン！
米国、日本などの先進電気浪費国の人がみんな父のようであればと思う。父は地球環境にフレンドリーだったのだ。
また暑い夏がやってくる。会社もデパートも電車もクーラー漬けになリ、ガンガン冷やす。電気の浪費だ。ところで、電気の浪費と言うと父を思い出す。
父は明治生まれで、倹約家、節水家、節電家であった。無駄な水はすぐに蛇口を閉め、無駄な電気はすぐ消した。遅くまで勉強していると「勉強をやめて、電気を消して寝よ」という具合だ。紙一枚でも大事に使い、裏の白い広告は閉じてノートにしていた。
父は数年前他界したが、今でも父に叱られはしないかとビクついている。まず、コピー機を使うときだ。設定を間違えて、B5用紙の代わりにB4用紙がどんどん出てくる。あわててストップボタンを押してもすぐには止まらない。どんどん出てくる。また、一枚でいいところを、設定が１０枚になっており、１０枚も出てきてしまうこともある。父にどやされそうだ。トイレで手を洗って、乾燥機の熱風で手を乾かしているとき父が来てスイッチを切りそうだ。実は、わたしはあの電気浪費機を使う度に罪悪感を感ずる。
次に冬になると行われるクリスマスの電飾イルミネーション。色とりどりのイルミネーションにうっとりしてしまい、まるでおとぎの光の国に入り込んだかと思うぐらいだ。夕方繁華街のビルや樹木の電飾が一斉に灯り、観衆が「おー」と歓声を上げる。その瞬間、父が電飾のメインスイッチを切りそうだ。バチーン！
米国、日本などの先進電気浪費国の人がみんな父のようであればと思う。父は地球環境にフレンドリーだったのだ。
