So you want to work in Japan

 I guess is not uncommon to have a very unpleasant coworker. In Japan, as in so many things relating to its uniformity and standardization, you could easily generalize the feature of that person; which is what I’m doing today.

In first place, that person has to be a sempai, a senior. Seniority gives the sempai an implicit place in the hierarchy, so that make them feel entitled to be haughty and bossy with the new or more recent workers. The way tasks are assigned in the workplace somehow encourage this. I’ll give you a simple and silly example:

Boss need the window open. Senpai is standing in front of the window. Kohai (junior) is at the door. Boss says to Senpai: “The window needs to be opened”. Kohai listened and knows who will end doing it, but he or she has to wait. Senpai says to kohai: “Open the window!”. The task is “efficiently” done.

The more veteran this “dark sempai” is, the more arrogant and mean, and the less he or she wants to do. You complain, you get gaslighted and dismissed. You have two basic options: endure for eternity until your soul is a gray blur; or quit the job and find another one…, where you will be a new kohai and will have to deal with the local shitty sempai. It could be worse: you could have two mean sempai who will tell you “go right” “go left” each one, at the same time.

Sometimes is difficult not to see those people as psychopaths. They pretend to be nice at first, then is the manipulating “love bomb”. When they fear they cannot control you or feel their superiority threatened, the hostility begins. By the way, I’m reading a book about psychopathy: El Psicópata Integrado (the integrated psychopath), by Vicente Garrido. It’s about people those psychopaths you could encounter in your life, be that your family, your romantic partner, your job, or your leaders. Sometimes I watch Jordi Wild’s podcasts on Youtube; he interviewed Mr. Garrido, and that’s why I got interested about his book.

I got into verbal fights at work, almost on a daily basis. The atmosphere there is kind of heavy. Sometimes, like today, I got a pathetic verbal threat on my life (the fact that I keep being alive shows how pathetic those threats are). Not that I’m not afraid of the process of dying, but feeling more connection to my material stuff than people these days, it’s surprise me how easily I would leave this world. No more bills to pay, not needing a job, no fear of not enjoying sex anymore, not turning into a decrepit old man, and my murder could give some attention to my books on the media—hopefully.

Talking about my books, it seems I finally got some reviews. I use to google my books and read what its AI has to say. I love how he or she or they summarize my books. The Spanish version is invisible, but apparently there were some reviews about the English one. I’m very happy because they are “real” opinions. No offense, family and friends who kindly bought my work, loving support is nice but I was really interested in hearing from people who actually…, hmm, you know…, oops, it’s getting late! I better go now, buy! I mean, bye!