Giri & Ninjou At The Japanese University Part II

 Today's guilt trip

Coworker: Bana sensei, do you know all the part timer names? (Knows full well I don't)

Me: Nope

Coworker: Why not?

Me: I haven't been on campus for 2 years

Coworker: But before that

Me: I was busy getting used to this place

Coworker: But you must know their faces...

Me: When do we see faces?

Coworker: What?

Me: Can you see my face?

Coworker: What?

Me: CAN. YOU. SEE. MY. FACE?

Coworker: What?

Me: Do you understand Japanese?

Coworker: What?

Me: We all wear masks so we never see faces anymore.

Coworker: But it is terrible you don't...

Me: (grabbing bags and heading for the door) You need to stop these guilt trips and attacks. This is why the other teacher quit

Ukraine, Personal Responsibility, & Neoliberalism 2.0

Although I agree in principle with all these 'stand with Ukraine' expressions, they all show the failure of nations to deal with the issue. Just as pollution was rebranded an individual responsibility and each of us were expected to buckle down to the three R's while corporate pollution was ignored in favour of economic expansion, so too are we individuals are expected to add a Ukraine flag, stop drinking vodka, and drop 'the' from Ukraine while the nations our taxes prop up twiddle their fingers to keep Russian gas pumping.

Welcome to neoliberalism 2.0.