Reg or Rog?
Prospect
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2017
- Messages
- 2,620
- LGKash:
- $500.00
As I've slowly matured over the years (very slowly), the one quality I finally acquired that I'm most proud is my ability to listen to other people. Because the fact is listening leads to learning. A few years ago at the B of A Tower downtown I had a Japanese apprentice, and at lunch and break time I'd love to hear him tell stories about his time living in Japan. I have relatives that lived and worked in Japan for years, and I wish I'd gone with them. They loved the culture, they loved the people, and in fact they loved everything about living in Japan.
I learned many fascinating things. At the top of the list, it was explained to me when something goes wrong in Japan, the first thing Japanese people try to do to solve the problem. Assessing blame is not on their radar. In America, when something goes wrong, the first thing people do is point fingers and start blaming someone else: "He did it! He did it!"
So in America, while we're busy running around in circles trying to pass the buck, the Japanese are spending their time and energy fixing what went wrong.
Which leads me to this Japanese character:
機会 - ("Kikai")
Which means both "crisis" and "opportunity".
I found it fascinating the same character means what was seems to be polar opposite definitions in our country. This is a microcosm of how the Japanese society works.
When the Kings lost Doughty and Walker...not to mention five games in a row...it was all doom and gloom here on LGK, and understandably so. It reminds me of the 1999 St Louis Rams. Ram fans around the world were excited when management finally went out and traded for a good quarterback. "Trent Green will lead us to the promised land!" was the rallying cry.
Unfortunately, Trent Green suffered a season-ending injury on a cheap shot to the knees in the team's second to last preseason game. The players were enraged. The coaches were enraged. The fans were enraged. And it was all doom and gloom in Ram Nation. The team was forced to turn to an unknown player for their quarterback, a man that had been stocking shelves in a supermarket and playing in an arena league for the Iowa Barnstormers. After Green's injury, the Rams odds of winning the Super Bowl in Vegas plummeted to basically zero. Yet most improbably, and against all odds, grocery boy Kurt Warner went on to lead the Rams to the Super Bowl and became a legend in the process.
When Drew and Walker went down, along with that five-game losing streak, I had thrown in the towel. I was already in full-blown tank mode. But I forgot about those wily Japanese...
...and now optimism runs high, as those untimely injuries have given opportunities to other players and they're taking advantage of it. Who knows where the Kings will end up this season, but so far it's a great story with the kids playing well and gaining confidence amidst a six-game win streak.
And once again I defer to the Japanese and Kikai: Crisis does indeed lead to opportunity.
I learned many fascinating things. At the top of the list, it was explained to me when something goes wrong in Japan, the first thing Japanese people try to do to solve the problem. Assessing blame is not on their radar. In America, when something goes wrong, the first thing people do is point fingers and start blaming someone else: "He did it! He did it!"
So in America, while we're busy running around in circles trying to pass the buck, the Japanese are spending their time and energy fixing what went wrong.
Which leads me to this Japanese character:
機会 - ("Kikai")
Which means both "crisis" and "opportunity".
I found it fascinating the same character means what was seems to be polar opposite definitions in our country. This is a microcosm of how the Japanese society works.
When the Kings lost Doughty and Walker...not to mention five games in a row...it was all doom and gloom here on LGK, and understandably so. It reminds me of the 1999 St Louis Rams. Ram fans around the world were excited when management finally went out and traded for a good quarterback. "Trent Green will lead us to the promised land!" was the rallying cry.
Unfortunately, Trent Green suffered a season-ending injury on a cheap shot to the knees in the team's second to last preseason game. The players were enraged. The coaches were enraged. The fans were enraged. And it was all doom and gloom in Ram Nation. The team was forced to turn to an unknown player for their quarterback, a man that had been stocking shelves in a supermarket and playing in an arena league for the Iowa Barnstormers. After Green's injury, the Rams odds of winning the Super Bowl in Vegas plummeted to basically zero. Yet most improbably, and against all odds, grocery boy Kurt Warner went on to lead the Rams to the Super Bowl and became a legend in the process.
When Drew and Walker went down, along with that five-game losing streak, I had thrown in the towel. I was already in full-blown tank mode. But I forgot about those wily Japanese...
...and now optimism runs high, as those untimely injuries have given opportunities to other players and they're taking advantage of it. Who knows where the Kings will end up this season, but so far it's a great story with the kids playing well and gaining confidence amidst a six-game win streak.
And once again I defer to the Japanese and Kikai: Crisis does indeed lead to opportunity.
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My wife speaks a modicum of Japanese; so sorry for kind of nerding out on it. Fascinating language, and kanji is nuts.
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