Hiroko's Hitokoto

Do you go out lunch by yourself or with your "lunch mates"? Recently the newspapers have been reporting that young people are unhappy to have lunch alone but are not brave enough to ask others to join them for lunch. The phenomenon even has a name: "Lunch Mate Syndrome". Doctors say it's because of the low social ability of some people, and their being too sensitive to develop their interpersonal skills. Some high school students are even dropping out school because of this syndrome. Some OLs ("Office Ladies") even make lunch appointments several days ahead, fearing that if they simply ask just before going to lunch, that they will be rejected. Another new syndrome is the "Idle Conversation-phobia Syndrome". This is where a person is scared of taking lunch or some other break, because they can't think of idle conversation to enjoy with their friends. Overall, both phenomenon are due to the lack of forming proper human relationships, not h...

The long Golden week holiday is over, and it's kind of hard to recall what was going on before hand at work. One of the seasonal terms these days is "Gogatsu-byo (May sickness)". It's slang for the symptoms a student has when they return to school: a sinking, helpless feeling. Since the Golden Week is so long these days, a new version of Gogatsu-byo has appeared, and is called (of course!) "Rokugatsu-byo" (June sickness). It refers to people have burned out and reach a stage of no stress and no tension after a long holiday. I believe it's rare for LINC Media people to catch Rokugatsu-byo, because of the excitement of the job itself. But even so, if the type of person who finishes each day feeling really tired and drained, then maybe a break is in order, before you get the dreaded July sickness. Don't ask me what the symptoms are...!