Happy New Year♥!　7

【A message for golf and baseball lovers!】

Act 7 [High school entrance exams and part-time work] Hapi and Moni's grandfather, Ken-san, was born in Osaka, but moved to Kyoto several times due to his great-grandfather's work, and moved to Ujitawara when he was in the fifth grade of elementary school. He and his classmate Jin-san got along well and were in the same class at school, so they have been friends for a long time. Ken-san received an allowance from his parents every month, but he learned the joy of earning money by working part-time at an early age. In his first year of junior high school, he delivered the evening paper by bicycle, and in his second year, he went to a sake brewery in Fushimi with Jin-san to work part-time. In the middle of winter, the drafts in the sake factory make it so cold that you shiver. In Fushimi, there are many famous sake breweries such as Gekkeikan, and the factory that Ken-san and his friends went to was a small brewery that produced second-class sake to be sold to food stalls. The president of the brewery was a very kind person, and during his lunch break, he treated us to a delicious tonkatsu set meal at a nearby tonkatsu restaurant. He gave me 3,000 yen for 8 hours until the evening. It was the first time for Jin to receive a salary, and he looked very Hapi to hold the money he earned himself. He went to a coffee shop for the first time after work. It was a coffee shop with a nice atmosphere, with jazz music playing. He felt like he had become a little more grown up. He looked at the menu and saw that it said"Wiener coffee.""Hey, Ken, what's Wiener coffee? Does it have wieners(sausage) in it?" "Well, shall we try it?" They should have just asked the flashy waitress, who was wearing a lot of makeup, but instead they pretended to know what they were talking about and said,"Excuse me, can I have two Wiener coffees, please?"The coffee the waitress brought was filled with whipped cream. The two of them drank their coffee, smearing cream around their mouths, and looked at each other's faces and laughed out loud. The waitress looked at them quizzically. The following Sunday, Jin and Ken went to the brewery early in the morning. It was even colder than last week. It looked like it was about to snow. Their jobs were to clean the factory, organize the empty bottles, and keep watch to check whether there were any impurities such as garbage in the sake produced by the automated system. Ken, who has 1.5 eyesights, removed even the smallest garbage, one after another, the president said."This much is fine! Customers who drink at the food stalls don't know!" After that, Jin and I didn't check seriously while talking about yesterday's TV."Yesterday's Drifters was funny~ Weird old man~♪" As we sat down, the 1.8L bottles of sake that were flowing by with a clatter were freshly made hot sake, and the smell of sake filled the factory. I felt like I was getting drunk from the smell. The automated machines were old, and perhaps because they were old, the bottles of sake were often caught on the lane and stopped. "Boss, it stopped again!" The boss brought a mallet and smashed the 1.8L bottle of sake that was stuck in the bottle. The hot sake in the bottle fell to the concrete floor, giving off a strong smell of sake. The automated machine started to rattle again. The smell of the sake on the floor was terrible, but the steam from the hot sake, which was about 80 degrees, made it very warm for a while. Ken and Jin looked at each other and grinned. They were thinking the same thing. "Ugh, it's cold. Shouldn't we finish soon?"Jin said. Ken purposely shifted the intervals between the bottles and stopped the machine."Boss!!" "It's really busy today, clang!""Ugh, it's warm." During his summer vacation in his third year, Ken and Jin got a part-time job at a paint factory. The factory was doing baked-on paint on steel shelves. Our job is to stack the painted steel shelves that come through the automated system and pack them with a packing machine. You stack about eight shelves and step on the pedal with your foot, and the yellow tape wraps around the shelves. But it's pretty difficult because if you get the timing wrong, you can end up tying up a part-time lady's arm. We messed up a few times and ended up packing up a part-time lady, so we were soon fired. Next, the two of us went to work at a dry cleaning factory. In midsummer, the dry cleaning factory is hellish with the steam heat. We sorted out the items that were collected from various dry cleaning shops, such as shirts and pants, by separating them from the large white cloths. We checked the pockets to make sure there was nothing in them. Sometimes we found coins or bills."Yay, a 5,000 yen bill, lucky!"Jin said, but"OK, put what you get in this box, and make sure you write the number on the number tag properly,"the part-time lady said. I knew it would happen, but it was still a disappointment. But it's fun, like a treasure hunt. A freshly dry-cleaned shirt is put onto the stainless steel body. Steam rises from the wet short-sleeved shirt as it dries, removing any wrinkles and leaving it looking crisp. When it's placed in the press, the entire shirt is dried and automatically folded. What a convenient device.With plenty of strength to spare, Jin puts the short-sleeved shirt through the body and pulls it down, with a whoosh and a rip. The old shirt was a cheap one sold at Nichii and the stitching ripped easily. After this happened several times, Jin was transferred to another position. Around this time, Jin had already experienced restructuring and being put in a window-sitter. It seems that Gantan is probably related to Jin's blood. One day, a big shopping center called Izumiya opened nearby. Ken started working part-time at a DIY home center located on the basement floor. There was only one position open, so Jin started working part-time at a store opposite that sold takoyaki and taiyaki. Ken became interested in the carpentry tools and power tools that were on sale, and he learned the names and specifications of the tools. One day, a "Do It Yourself" kit of speakers, amplifiers, and other individual products was sold, and it became a big hit, attracting enthusiasts. The promotional song played at high volume was Van McCoy's"Hustle."If you listen to it at high volume (Duruwasso♪) all day long, your ears will start ringing, and even at night, the sound will ring in your head and you won't be able to sleep. At the same time, Jin, who was working part-time at the store opposite, was suffering from the same problem. This was Shimon Masato's Swim Taiyaki-kun, which was a big hit. The neighbors are fighting over the volume of the music, trying not to lose to the hardware store, so you can't hear the Izumiya theme music or the in-store announcements in this area. "If a fire breaks out now, we won't be able to hear the emergency announcements, so we'll probably die." Every day, the two of them got really fed up with it. In high school, they both hated studying, and in exams they just rolled a pencil and wrote the result on the answer sheet, so they gave up on going to a regular high school, which was their goal to go to university. Ken got interested in interior design after working part-time at a hardware store, and took the entrance exam for the famous Kyoto Municipal Fushimi Technical High School, which is a rugby teacher's crybaby school in Fushimi, Kyoto. Jin also took the entrance exam for the same high school, and both of them passed, and Jin entered the architecture department. Ken's class was a woodcraft department with 38 students. There were also mechanical and civil engineering departments, and it was a school that trained construction-related specialists. On the day of the results announcement, Ken's dad drove him to school to see the results. Before that, he applied to a high school as a backup, but he got nervous during the interview and said something stupid, so he failed even though it was a backup school."How will it be this time? Are you OK?"Ken's dad looks worried.If he fails, he'll have to repeat middle school."It's OK, I did well on the exam, so I'm confident!"The two of them look at the board with the numbers of the successful applicants. The number is 34, but there's no number... He looks above the number."Ah, Dad, this is the civil engineering department, and the woodwork department is over there! Ah, there it is, number 34!"At the announcement of the architecture department next to him, Jin also smiles and makes a peace sign. Dad is so Hapi that he immediately calls Ken's mom from a public phone. That night, Jin and Ken's families gather for a big party. Fried shrimp and other delicacies are lined up, and Jin and Ken's dad are drinking happily. We were happier to see our parents Happy than to pass the exam. Fushimi Technical High School main gate in April, with cherry blossoms in full bloom. Ken and Jin entered high school. Ken was in the woodworking department. Jin was in the architecture department. The architecture department had two classes with 38 students, and while the technical high school was coeducational, the woodworking department had 38 students, all of whom were boys. It was like an all-boys high school. In the architecture department, there were three girls in each class. Nowadays, it's an industry where women are active, but back then it was a subject dominated by men. A year later, when the woodworking department was renamed the interior design department, the number of female students exceeded half, which was ironic. After the entrance ceremony, when we entered our classes, there were many unfamiliar faces. Jin was in a different class, so there was no one I knew. There were some bad-looking guys with perms looking at us and whispering. It was a very unpleasant feeling. The school had a relatively relaxed atmosphere, and we didn't have to worry about dress code, even if we wore school uniforms with jeans underneath. We sat down in order by name, and then our homeroom teacher came. His name was Mr. Takei, but we called him Take-chan. As our names were called in order, we raised our hands and answered "yes."Ken's voice was originally low and had a strong voice."Ayu-kun""Yes!"Everyone looked at Ken's face. He looked like a new prisoner entering a room, wondering what boss he was from. For the next three years, Ken was nicknamed "boss" or "Bigboss." At the technical high school, we had four hours of general subjects classes in the morning, wearing black uniforms with claws. The silver Fushiko(Fushimi high school) emblem shone on the chest. There was a cafeteria at lunchtime, where cheap soba noodles, udon noodles with tempura on them, and other dishes were sold. It was a cheap restaurant where kitsune udon and tempura soba were 120 yen, and tendon was about 180 yen. The food was delicious, and there was also a shop selling bread and other things. Ken made new friends who weren't bad at all, Katsujiro, Tamotsu, and Yoshimitsu, and we were always together for three years. The four of us growing up got hungry quickly, so after the third class we would go to the cafeteria for the 10-minute break. We quickly slurped down our standing soba noodles and went to the fourth class. This became a daily routine, and Jin was always there, too."Hey!""Yees!"It seemed like Jin had made a new friend too.During lunch break, we would go to Tamotsu's house, which was close to the school, or go to eat at the nearby Ramen Fuji. This Ramen Fuji is still open to this day, and there is always a line, which is quite impressive. Tamotsu's father runs a woodworking shop that makes furniture for display in department stores. Tamotsu is the eldest son and the next president of the company. For afternoon classes, everyone changes into grey work clothes in the locker room. When they put on their name-printed work clothes, the group is made up of prisoners in juvenile detention centers, and if they had shaved heads, the cuckoo would look like a prison uniform. Afternoon classes include woodworking, furniture making, painting, glass processing, drafting, etc., and each room is equipped with electric drills, tools, drafting tables, drafters, and even a large electrostatic painting machine in the painting room. As the age of computers is coming, there is even a computer room with a 4m-long electronic calculator. There is a programming class, and if the program is not written accurately, an error occurs and your punch card is returned. You can't go home until you complete the program. Ken was the first to complete it. When the teacher wasn't looking, everyone tried to punch the punch card and everyone passed. And Ken became the model prisoner and head of the room. The class that Ken was most interested in during his three years was drafting. His teacher, Take-chan, had drawn a picture of a furniture perspective that he had colored with poster colors. When I asked him,"What is that, teacher?"he replied,"It's perspective! It's officially called perspective, and it's a kind of sketch that looks three-dimensional and easy to understand based on a drawing, because it's difficult for amateurs to understand just from drawings such as floor plans and elevations. You often see color drawings of completed houses and apartments in newspaper inserts, as if they were real photos. These are called perspective.""Take-chan is a civil servant, so I guess he was doing furniture perspective drawing as a side job." Ken dreams of a future as an architect. Jin, likewise, studied architecture in the architecture department after entering Fushimi Technical College. Although I couldn't keep up with structural calculations and concrete foundations, which I'm not good at, I became interested in wooden architecture. I dreamed of building a house with my own hands, just like a carpenter would, from the foundation, fitting the base, erecting the pillars, framing the walls, and putting up the rafters on the roof.

act7【高校受験とアルバイト】

ハピとモニのおじいちゃんであるケンさんは、大阪で産まれた後、ひいおじいちゃんの仕事の関係で京都の地を転々とし、小学校5年生の時に宇治田原の地に引っ越して来た。

同級生の仁さんとは息が合って学校のクラスも一緒、付き合いの長い関係です。

ケンさんは、お小遣いを親から毎月貰っていたが、自分でアルバイトして、稼ぐ楽しみを早くに憶えた。

中学１年には自転車に乗って夕刊の新聞配達、2年の時は仁さんと伏見のお酒を作る酒蔵へアルバイトに行った。

真冬のお酒工場はすきま風が入り込み震えるほど寒い。

伏見には、有名な月桂冠等清酒蔵元が沢山あって、ケンさん達が行った工場は屋台に卸す2級酒を製造していた小さな酒蔵だった。

社長はとても優しい人でお昼休みには近くのトンカツレストランで美味しいトンカツ定食をご馳走してくれた。

日給は夕方まで8時間3000円を帰りにくれた。

仁さんも給料をもらうのが初めてで、自分で稼いだお金を手に取ってとても嬉しそうだ。

仕事帰りに初めて喫茶店に入った。

ジャズが流れて、雰囲気のある喫茶店だ。

少し大人になった気がした。

メニューを、見るとウインナーコーヒーと書いてあった。

「おい、ケン、ウインナーコーヒーって何や、コーヒーにウインナー入ってんのか?」

「さあ、どうやろ頼んで見ようか?」

2人は化粧しまくりの、派手なウエイトレスに聞けばいいのに見栄を張って知ったかぶりに

「スミマセン、ウインナーコーヒー２つ下さい!」

ウエイトレスが持って来たコーヒーにはホイップ生クリームがタップリ入っていた。

2人は、口の周りにクリームをつけながらコーヒーを飲みお互いの顔を見てゲラゲラ笑った。

ウエイトレスは不思議そうにこっちを見ている。

次の日曜日、朝早くに仁とケンは酒蔵に行った。

先週よりももっと寒い。

今にも雪が降って来そうだ。

2人の仕事は工場の掃除、空き瓶の整理、オートメーションで製造されるお酒にゴミなどの不純物が入っていないかをチェックする見張りの仕事だった。

両目が1,5のケンは小さなゴミも見逃さず次から次へと取り除くと社長が言った。

「これぐらいはええねん!屋台で飲む客は解らへんねん!」

それからは、仁と昨日のテレビの話をしながら真剣にチェックしなかった。

「昨日のドリフおもろかったな～変なおじさ~ん♪」

座ってガチャガチャと流れて来る日本酒の１升瓶は熱燗の出来立てホヤホヤでお酒の匂いが工場に充満している。

匂いで酔っ払いそうだ。

オートメーションの機械は年期がはいっていて、古いせいか頻繁にお酒の瓶がレーンに引っかかり止まってしまう。

「社長、又止まりました!」

社長は木槌を持ってきて引かかった日本酒の１升瓶を叩き割った。

１升瓶に入っていた出来立ての熱燗はコンクリートの床に落ちてお酒の匂いがプンプン。

オートメーションの機械は再びガチャガチャと動き出した。

お酒が床に落ちた所は匂いも凄いが、80度程の熱燗の湯気で暫くとても暖かい。

ケンと仁は顔を見合わせてニヤッとした。

考えている事は同じだ。

「う~寒い、おいそろそろやらへんか?」

仁が言った。ケンは、わざと瓶の間隔をずらして機械を止めた。

「社長~!!」

「今日はよう止まるな、ガチャン!」

「う～あったかい」

3年の夏休みケンは仁と一緒に塗装工場へアルバイト。

スチール棚の焼付塗装をしている工場だった。

僕達の仕事はオートメーションで流れて来る塗装されたスチール棚を、積み上げて梱包機で梱包する仕事だ。

８枚ほど重ねて足でペダルを踏むとシュルシュルと黄色いテープがスチール棚を縛ってくれる優れものだ。

でもタイミングを間違えると腕を縛ってしまったりして結構難しい。

このアルバイトは、何度か失敗してパートのおばちゃんを梱包してしまい、すぐにクビになってしまった。

次にクリーニング工場へアルバイトに2人で行った。

真夏のクリーニング工場はスチームの熱気で地獄だ。

あちらこちらのクリーニング店で回収して来た白い大きな布に入った商品をシャツ、ズボン等より分ける。

ポケットに何か入っていないかをチェックする。

時々小銭やお札が出て来た。

「ヤッター5000円札やラッキー!」

仁が言ったが

「はい、出て来た物はこっちの箱に入れてね、ちゃんと番号札の番号書いてね」

パートのおばちゃんが言った。

分かってはいたが、ガックリ。

でも宝探しみたいで面白い。

クリーニングしたてのワイシャツをステンレス製のボディに着せる。

ジュワーと湯気が上がって濡れたワイシャツの半袖は乾きシワも取れてピシッとなる。

それをプレス機にセットするとワイシャツ全体を乾かし自動で折り畳む。

何と便利な物だ。

仁は力が有り余って半袖のワイシャツをボディに通し、下に引っ張るとジュワー、ビリッ。昔のワイシャツはニチイ辺りで売っていた安物のワイシャツで直ぐに縫製部分が破れてしまう。何度か繰り返す仁は配置転換された。

この頃から仁はリストラや窓際族を経験済み。

元旦はきっと仁さんの血を引いたみたいやね。

ある日近くにイズミヤと言う大きなショッピングセンターが出来た。

ケンさんは、その中の地下1階にあるDIYホームセンターでアルバイトする様になった。

募集は1人だけだったので仁さんは向かいにあるタコ焼きや、たい焼きを売っているお店でアルバイトした。

ケンさんは売られている大工道具や電動工具等興味を持ちそれらのツールの名前や仕様を覚えていった。

ある時Do It Yourself　自分で音響をこしらえようと、スピーカーやアンプ等のバラバラ商品がキットで、売り出され、マニアが押し寄せ大ヒットした。

大音量で流れる宣伝曲はヴァン・マッコイのハッスル。

1日中大音量で（ドゥルワッソ♪）と聴かされると耳鳴りがして、夜寝ていてもそのサウンドが頭の中で鳴り響き眠れない。同じ頃向かいの店でアルバイトしていた仁も同じ悩みに合っていた。

コチラは子門真人の泳げたい焼き君が大ヒット。

ホームセンターに負けまいと隣同士、大音量でやり合っているのでイズミヤのテーマ音楽も館内放送もこの辺りだけ聞こえない。

「今火災が起きたら非常放送聞こえへんから僕らは死ぬやろな～」

毎日毎日2人は本当に嫌になってしまった。

高校は2人とも勉強嫌いで試験は鉛筆を転がして出た目を答案用紙に書くぐらいだから大学進学が目標の普通高校はそれぞれ諦めた。

ケンはホームセンターでアルバイトした事でインテリアに興味を持ち京都の伏見にあるラグビーの泣き虫先生で、有名な京都市立伏見工業高校を受験した。

仁も同じ高校を受験し見事2人共合格し仁は建築科に入った。ケンのクラスは38名の1クラスで木材工芸科だった。

他に機械科、土木科等あり、建設に関わるスペシャリストを養成する学校だった。

合格発表の日、ケンはケンのお父ちゃんに車で学校に乗せて貰って合格発表を見に来た。

その前に滑り止めで受けた高校は、面接で緊張して、トンチンカンな発言をして滑り止めなのに落ちてしまった。

「今度はどうや、大丈夫か?」

ケンのお父ちゃんは心配そうにしている。

落ちれば中学浪人だ

「大丈夫や、試験も出来たし自信あるねん!」

合格発表の番号が貼られたボードを2人で覗き込む。

番号は34番、無い...番号の上を見る。

「あっ、お父ちゃんこれ土木科や、木材工芸科はあっちや!　あッ　あった34番あったで!」

隣の建築科発表では仁もニコッとピースをしていた。

お父ちゃんは喜んで直ぐに公衆電話からケンのお母ちゃんに電話した。

その夜は仁とケンの家族が集まって大宴会。

エビフライやご馳走が並んで、仁とケンのお父ちゃんは楽しそうにお酒を飲んでいる。

僕達は試験に受かった事よりも自分達の親が喜んでいる姿を見る方が嬉しかった。

4月サクラが満開の伏見工業高校正門。

ケンと仁は高校に入学

ケンは、木材工芸科。仁は、建築科。建築科は、38名が2クラスあり、工業高校は男女共学なのに、木材工芸科は38名皆んな男子生徒だった。

まるで男子高校だ。

建築科は、1クラスに３名ずつ女の子がいる。

今でこそ女性も活躍する業界だが、この頃は男性が主体の科目だった。

１年後木材工芸科はインテリアデザイン科と名称が変更になると女生徒が半数を超えたので皮肉なものだ。

入学式を終えてクラスに入ると見知らぬ顔ぶればかりだった。仁が違うクラスなので知っている奴は誰もいなかった。

パンチパーマを掛けた不良ぽい奴等がこっちを見てヒソヒソ話していた。

とても嫌な感じだ。

校風は比較的自由で服装も学生服に下はジーパンでも何も注意されなかった。

名前の順番に席に着くと担任の先生がやって来た。

武井先生と言って僕達はタケチャンと呼んでいた。

名前を順番に呼ばれ手を挙げてハイと返事をする。

ケンは元々声が低音で、どすの利いた声だった。

「鮎君」

「ハイ!」

皆んなケンの顔を見た。

それは刑務所で新入りが部屋に入って来て何処の親分が来たんだみたいな顔をしている。

それから3年間ケンのあだ名は親分、ボス、と呼ばれる様になった。

工業高校は、午前中は普通科目の授業が4時間、黒の爪入り制服を着て受ける。

胸に銀色の伏工紋章が光っていた。

お昼は食堂があり、ソバやうどん天丼等が安く売られている。キツネうどんや天ぷらそばは、120円、天丼が180円位の安い食堂だった。

味も美味しくて、パン等売っている売店もあった。

ケンには、勝二郎、タモツ、よしみつと言った全然不良ぽくない新しい友達が出来て3年間いつも一緒にいた。

育ち盛りの僕達4人は、直ぐにお腹が空いて３時間目の授業が終わると10分間の休憩に食堂へ繰り出す。

立ち食いそばを啜るように速攻で食べ4時間目の授業を受ける。

それが日課となり、食堂には、仁も必ず来ていて

「おっす!」

「ウイッス!」

仁にも新しい友達が出来た様だ。

お昼休みは学校が近いタモツの家に遊びに行ったり近くのラーメン藤に食べに行ったりしていた。

このラーメン藤は今現在も営業していて、いつも行列が出来ており、大したものだ。

タモツの家は父親が木工所を経営していて、デパート展示用の家具を製作していた。

タモツは長男で次期社長だ。

午後の授業は、皆んな更衣室でグレーの作業服に着替える。

名前入りの作業服を上下着るとその団体は少年刑務所に入れられた囚人達でもしもボウズ頭なら、そのカッコウは囚人服の様に見えた。

午後の授業には、木工、家具製作、塗装授業、ガラス加工、製図等あり、それぞれの部屋に電動ドリル台や工具、製図台、ドラフター、塗装室には静電塗装の大きな機械まで揃っていた。

これからはコンピューターの時代が来ると言う事で長さ４ｍもある電子計算機が置いてあるコンピューター室迄あった。

プログラミングの科目があり、正確にプログラムしなければエラーが出て自分のパンチカードが戻って来る。

クリヤー出来るまで帰れない。

ケンは１番にクリアー出来た。

先生が見てない時に皆んなはそのパンチカードを真似てパンチし、皆んなクリアー出来た。

そしてケンは部屋長の模範囚となった。

ケンは3年間で1番興味を持った授業は製図だった。

それは担任のタケチャンが家具の完成予想パースと言う絵を描いていてそれにポスターカラーで色を着けていた。

「先生それ何ですか?」

と聞くと

「パースや!正式にはパースペクティブと言って平面図や、立面図などの図面だけでは素人に分かりにくい為に図面に基づいて分かりやすく立体に見えるスケッチの様な物だ。

よく新聞の折り込み広告に建売り住宅や、マンション等の完成予想図がカラーで本当に出来上がった写真の様に入っているだろう。

それらをパースペクティブと言う。」

「タケチャンは、公務員なので、内職で家具のパース描いていたのかな」。

ケンは、設計士としての将来を夢見る。

同じく仁は、伏工に入学後建築科で、建築の勉強をした。

苦手な構造計算やコンクリート基礎等は難しくてついて行けないが木造建築に興味を持った。

基礎から土台をはめ込み柱を建てて壁組、小屋組み屋根工事、など大工が手掛ける家を自分の手で、建てる事に夢が膨らんだ。