"There may be taxi companies going bankrupt because of Corona." A painful voice from the frontline.
Hello, this is Gen San Shimoyama.
The other day when I rode a taxi
the driver helped load the luggage into the car, and I was asked
if I could be of assistance with the luggage,
at that time.
“Is it okay for me to help with this luggage?”
I was asked.
“Recently, because of COVID as well,there are customers who don’t want
to have their belongings touched,”
they told me.
It seems goodwill can become trouble,
and the drivers are also having a hard time.
After the taxi began to move, casually,
I asked the driver,
“Is there still an impact from COVID?”
The driver replied,
“Yes,especially nighttime customers have decreased.
In my case,there are company-designated pickup spots,
so I am still able to continue,but…
if I ask other drivers,
there are quite miserable cases as well.
Some people’s salaries have plummeted.”
“Is your salary commission-based?”
“Yes,so when the number of customers decreases
it directly affects my pay.
Listening to them,I honestly sometimes wonder how they manage to keep going
with such a salary.
If I were working for another taxi company,
and my pay had dropped even more,
I might have started as a Uber Eats delivery person.
No, really,
these days there may be companies going bankrupt in the future as well.”
“That’s scary. The number of infections is rising again,
and it’s hard to predict how long this will last….”
Not only taxi companies,
in the midst of the ongoing COVID situation
many businesses are still struggling.
This is certainly true.
On TV as well,daily negative COVID-19 news is broadcast,
but when you hear real stories,
the severity becomes painfully clear.
==============================
A boy I met in India
==============================
However,in terms of the number of COVID cases,
Japan is still relatively lowby world standards,though.
The absolute number of tests is low,
I suppose,
for example in Indiarecently,
the news that infection numbers exceeded 1 million
was followed by news that
by the end of July they had already surpassed 1.5 million.
A staggering figure.
When I was 23,
I went to India with a university friend,
and I can imagine how Indians live,
but surely sanitation factors
contribute to higher COVID infection rates.
I can imagine that.
Also,the relationship between COVID and air pollution
has been noted,
and India’s air is famous for being polluted,
and such factorslikely affect the high number of infections.
I think so, to a great extent.
But changing habits is not easy.
“Let’s reform our daily life from now onto keep things clean.
Let’s reduce driving to keep the air clean.”
Still,it won’t be that simple to change.
As a result,the worry is that infections won’t be restrained….
By the way,when I went to India 20 years ago,
a small boy came up to me and spoke to me.
The boy said in Japanese:
“Matchan, Hamachan, why are you doing this?”
he said.
I didn’t expect to hear that in India,
so I laughed and thought,
“Why downtown all of a sudden?”I laughed at the time.
There was internet then, but
YouTube hadn’t become popular yet.
In my senior year of college,
I asked a friend, who wasn’t tech-savvy,
“How do you enter Yahoo?”
and I was told,
“There isn’t anyone who doesn’t know that.”I still remember that,
and in those times,Downtown and India were known for
something, and I was surprised.
It’s a small, nice memory.
And now, the COVID situation in India is also a matter of interest to me.
==============================
Reasons why I can live financially freely now
==============================
However, not just in India
but worldwide, overseas travel is not easy and
the world feels distant again.
People may regret thinking,
“I should have traveled abroad more.”
and some may think,“If only I had gone at that timing.”
Many people likely feel that way.
Even during this Obon holiday season,many may be staying local,
and not only abroad,
even domestic travel is hard to do.
This year, perhaps many will stay home instead of heading to the countryside,
or to pools, fireworks, or festivals,
and many may simply stay home,but looking at things positively,
it may be good to find ways to enjoy staying home as well.
For example, read books.
Personally, I read manga and novels frequently,and
the reason I now live a financially free life
is not a stretch to say because
“I have read books.”
Of course,
we only live once in our lives.
There is no redo.
Therefore,it is important to avoid big mistakes
and carefully plan to prevent them.
That’s what I think.
Most people try to make smart choices, but
avoiding major failures caused by foolish choices
is what matters.
And books teach you how to avoid big mistakes.
Books describe the many failures of those who came before us.
For example,
when you read many books,
there’s a common realization.
In particular, for men,the causes of failures
throughout history have largely been
“drinking, money, women.”
One of these three traps
can bring a man down.
Conversely, if you are careful with
these three traps, you can live a reasonably nice life.
This Obon, perhaps I’ll spend time reading quietly,and learn from the wisdom of those who came before.
Thank you for reading until the end today as well.
Sincerely, Keizo Shimoyama.
Shimoyama Keizo
