たばこの気持ち

【一期一会】

新宿〜横浜まで、湘南新宿ライナーに乗車し、私たち2人は空席がなく立っていました

まず手前の席の女性が席を譲ってくれ、77歳の河野さんが座りました。

そしたら、私の手前の青年が私に「最寄り駅で降りますので、どうぞお座りください」と席を譲ってくれました

そこで、自然発生的に、私たち3人のコミュニケーションがスタートしたのです

そのうち、私の右手のお客さんが下車したので、私が席を詰め、席を譲ってくれた青年に座ってもらい、コミニュケーションがさらに深化していきました

私は彼に「祖父母と仲良しでしょう？」と問いかけたら、「同居しいます」と答えました

ますます会話が弾み、23歳の青年に私の名刺を手渡しました

あれ、彼は「最寄り駅が近い」と言っていたのに、なかなか下車しないので、「どこで降りるの？」と聞いたら「戸塚です」と言うのです

私たち（横浜）より遠いのに、ためらいながら席を譲ってくれた彼の心構えに、私は日本の将来は暗くない、老人は「老いては子に従え」ば、悲観的になることなど、まったくないと確信しました

私は同じ横浜在住の知り合いが、また1人増えたことに喜びを覚えたのです

One life time encounter.

We boarded the Shonan Shinjuku Liner from Shinjuku to Yokohama, and the two of us stood there with no empty seats!

First, the woman in front of me gave up her seat, and 77-year-old Mr. Kono sat down.

Then, the young man in front of me offered me his seat, saying, "I will get off at the nearest station, so please have a seat.

So spontaneously, communication between the three of us began!

Eventually, the customer to my right got off, so I packed up my seat and asked the young man who had given up his seat to sit down, and our comminication deepened even more!

I asked him, "You are close with your grandparents, aren't you?" He replied, "I live with them."

We got more and more conversational, and I handed the 23-year-old my business card.

He said, "The nearest station is near here," but he didn't get off the train. I asked him where he was getting off, and he said, "Totsuka."

He hesitantly gave up his seat, even though it was farther away from us (Yokohama), and this made me believe that the future of Japan was not so bleak, and that old people should "follow their children" and not be pessimistic at all!

I was delighted to have another acquaintance living in Yokohama!