Skip to main content

Table for One?

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 having enough experience in forming bonds during their pre-school days. That's one reason why keitai e-mail is booming here, especially among young people, because it means that they don't have to face each other but instead can communicate by e-mail.
Good grief! Are we creating a nation of wimps or what? Personally, I would love to spend long breaks just gossiping...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cherry blossom sighting at Aoyama Cemetery

Walking around Aoyama Cemetery. It's surreal that cherry blossoms are falling and covering graveyards, and its beauty, ephemeral,  tranquility, everything I don't have enough words to express. And there were white dandelions on the ground. It's very unusual in east Japan. It made me happy to see a couple of flower petals on the loaf of bread I bought before the walk.   青山墓地で花見。 散りゆく桜の花びらが古いお墓に降り積もるのはなんともシュール で、美しさ、儚さと、静かさと、何とも言えず、非日常的。 そんな中、足元には白いタンポポ。東日本では珍しい。 家に帰って見たら、 お散歩前に買ったパンに花びらが付いていたのが何だか嬉しい。 Ships at a graveyard Old Christianity graveyard 白いタンポポ White dandelion Cherry blossom tunnel Cherry blossom petals on a graveyard Flower petals on a loaf of bread Videos of cherry blossom falling , cherry blossom falling like snow , and the last one .

new hat & carrot salad

New blue hat and awesome carrot salad from Daylesford for lunch at Farmers' market at UN University in Omote Sando. And do you see resemblance of his face/angle in the below photo of Ton with hair sticking out with static...? new hat & carrot salad Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda

Bus rider back home

Overheard a conversation between two senior ladies on the bus way back to home from work. One lady said she was worried about her daughter not getting married. "I was worried about her going out when she was young, and was careful not to let her go on date with some boys, but now I regret what I did. If she had more chances of meeting, she would've been married by now." The other lady was telling her that she was embarrassed by her daughter married to a man not from the good family. "Children of my brothers and cousins all married to the people from the good family. My daughter is the only one not married to such a good family. Even my husband's end relatives also married to decent family. I'm so embarrassed." The grass is greener on the other side of the fence. One is not happy about her daughter being single. One is not happy that her daughter doesn't belong to decent family that she can claim to her relatives. Probably both of them were trying to ...