The Difficult Person in My Chonaikai Who Speaks Before Checking

That guardrail is too long. Cut it.

When I heard that, for a moment no words came out.

There is a bridge along the national road, and on it there is an iron fence that separates the sidewalk from the road. Two rails, the ordinary kind. I pass there every day. I am an officer of my chonaikai (neighborhood association), so I have most of the roads around here in my head. But not once have I ever thought that fence was too long.

The one who said it is an older member of the chonaikai. They know I handle the general affairs, so they came all the way over to tell me.

They know it, too. Well, that is probably the job of the prefecture or the city, they say themselves. They already look half resigned. They probably do not think anyone will cut it.

Even so, they come to say it.

Let Me Write It Honestly

I was angry.

Here we go again, I thought. This is not the first time this person has come to me with something they just thought up. Every time, it feels like they are making a fool of me. If it were me, I would work out the steps, look up which office has jurisdiction, and check whether it can be done or not before I opened my mouth. They skip all of that work and throw the thought straight at me, just as it came to them.

Honestly, I do not want to be involved.

The Fence Is There for the Days When Nothing Happens

Just to be clear, that fence cannot be cut. It is a safety fence that protects people walking on the bridge.

Saying it is not needed because nothing has happened so far is backwards. The fence is not there for the days when nothing happens. A car crashes into it, someone loses their footing. It is there for that one time. Nothing happening is the proof that the fence is working.

The government office does not move easily either. Has there been an actual accident? Are there several residents who feel it is dangerous? Has a formal request been filed? Only when those line up do you finally stand at the entrance to a review. One person with a passing thought does not even get into the ring. And it should not.

For 40 years I looked after equipment on a factory floor. I do not trust a person who says that something put there for safety is in the way and should be taken off. Whether it can be taken off or not is something only a person who has checked is allowed to say. Not a person with a sudden idea.

I Decided to Learn From Their Bad Example

Still, if I just stay angry, I am the only one who loses. So I decided to think about it this way.

That person is a bad example to learn from.

They do not check. They speak to people on a whim. Maybe it becomes easier to be like that as you get older. Fewer chances to play a part, less energy to check things, and only the wish to say something left over. I do not know the truth of it. I am only imagining it on my own.

But one thing is clear. I might become like that myself someday.

I am in my 60s, and I hold fewer positions now. The times when people rely on me will keep growing fewer too. Somewhere ahead, when the work of checking feels like too much trouble, I might turn into the one who throws a sudden idea at somebody else.

I will not become that. I will check before I speak. I decided to hold on to that much. If there is one thing I learned from that person, it is that.

So What Did I Actually Do?

I will just hear you out.

I said that, and left it there. I am not cutting anything, and I am not taking it to the government office. I think that was fine.

If they press me again, this is what I plan to ask.

Does everyone else think so too?

Is it one person with an idea, or is it the voice of everyone? Sorting that out is the job of the person who said it.

I Wrote All That Like I Know Better

Honestly, I am not confident.

The next time that person comes to say something, I am sure I will get irritated again. I will think that I do not want to be involved. Whether I can calmly say that I will just hear you out, I will not know until I am standing there.

Knowing a thing and being able to do it are two different things. Even when I think I have learned something, I waver when the moment comes. People are just like that, I think.

Even so, if I write it down like this, maybe next time I can listen with a slightly better look on my face.

That is all it is, but every day, when I cross that bridge, I think about it a little.