It is a tough life, being a salaryman in Tokyo. Crowded commuting, long working days, short holidays… And being a woman you are often supposed to wear high heels all day as well, my wife tells me. Not a day goes by (maybe a slight exaggeration, but I indulge myself) when I do not on my way from the supermarket meet one or two ladies running down the street towards the train station in their suits and high heel shoes. Sometimes I wonder if they are trying to qualify for some high heels marathon in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and not just want to catch their train.
It is a tough life, being a salaryman in Tokyo. I know that now. My wife’s life is my proof. My wife does not like me to include her among salarymen. And it is not a gender issue – salarywoman or salaryperson would almost be worse. Just like officeworker or some other similar neutral word. No, she just does not like the image of being someone who works in an office all day, preferably staying very late, performing tasks for the company so that she can earn money for her family to have food and a place to live and maybe some extra money for a short holiday once in a while; this is not how she thinks of herself. Neither do I.
After meeting me, my wife has changed her life, little by little. She no longer works so late. She no longer wears high heels and for that, both me and her feet are happy (but I think she could have done very well at the Olympics). Her feet do not like high heels. My wife wants to say that she does not need to wear high heels. Because she is not in sales. Because she is not a salaryman. Ok, I say. But even so, I am so immensely impressed that she has both the strength to change, and can live the salaryman lifestyle she is living for us, high heels or not. I so admire her. I feel there is such a beauty in her love for me and our baby, manifested by her going to the office every day making it possible for us to be a family.
I see my wife as the strongest woman I have ever known, and at the same time with the ability to be unreservedly her inner self when we are together. My wife does not think of herself as a salaryman, she thinks of herself as a creative soul (and that she certainly is also). And when we meet on that creative, beyond intellectual, level it is one of the more fulfilling experiences I have. The same I believe is true for my wife as well – it makes her tough life all the worth living.
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