Many jobs in Japan only seem to exist due to some employment creation schemes devised by the government or some caring corporation – they appear totally superfluous to a westerner. The job of these information booth girls with the nifty hats belongs in that category. When a job is way too dull for a single person to do, Japanese companies hire two people. At least they can talk among themselves, then. To make employees look more important, they're usually given some silly-looking uniform. One of the funnier jobs we encountered was that of the "Watch out, don't trip!" guy you find at construction sites. You see at least two of those people standing guard at even tiny construction sites, waving with bright, illuminated sticks so pedestrians will take care and not stumble.
|
