As per every Thursday morning—this week’s complaint thread! Time to get anything off your chest that’s been bugging you or pissed you off.
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Rules are simple—you can complain/moan/winge about anything you like, small or big. It can be a personal issue or a general thing, except politics. It’s all about getting it off your chest. Remain civil and be nice to other commenters (even try to help).
36 comments
My focus level is almost zero. In the past week I’ve written maybe 30 lines of code on a feature that would take my colleagues maybe an hour. I get caught in a cycle of “I should be able to do this quicker” then “I feel awful, why haven’t I got the hang of this after all these years” and then “Fuck, what am I gonna say at the catch up meeting when I haven’t done anything all week”. Then I panic so much that I browse reddit and twitter. So I block reddit and twitter. Then I browse other random sites that I haven’t heard of before because they’re not on my block list.
I managed to concentrate for maybe 20 minutes on Monday and it was glorious. I was getting stuff done, thinking “Hey, maybe I am gonna be successful after all”. Of course, I sit down on Tuesday morning and it’s just a brick wall. I can’t get squeeze out any concentration.
Meanwhile, in the back of my mind I keep thinking “I should quit this job and start my own business”. I start mentally planning every detail of it. What I would build. How I would build it. How I would arrange the office and who I would hire. Sometimes I even draw up a quick spreadsheet imagining how we might make money.
Of course, I know it wouldn’t work. I would have the same problem concentrating on it that I have concentrating on my work now. I haven’t thought about suicide for a long time, but failing at yet another job is really pushing me towards the edge. I catch myself thinking “What if I just went to sleep and never woke up. Would it really be that bad?” then I thinking maybe I should hang myself. Relatively reliable and painless. There’s a spot out of town overlooking the ocean with some trees and clearing. I thought one day I might buy a house out there but that’s not going to be possible.
Work has a “Life Design” seminar that is mandatory to take once every 5 or 10 years, yet since it’s about financial planning and stuff, and not your actual job, you’re supposed to pay part of the cost.
Obviously I think this is bullshit and so completely ignored the emails asking me to sign up for a slot last year, and luckily my cc’d boss apparently didn’t notice or care about the increasing levels of passive aggressiveness in the emails.
Thought I was in the clear because I’m not the target age this, but this morning – boom – and new boss from next month will probably be more attentive
So I was rejected from a teaching job because they “only take native speakers.” I list my languages on my resume and English is right there under “native.” I mention where I’m from on my resume. Only thing I can think of is that I don’t have a “white” name, so they didn’t even bother to read my resume and assumed my name bars me from being a native speaker.
I ask the company why they assumed this and their fucking patronizing reply was simply, “What’s your nationality?”
FUCK.YOU. Really, FUCK YOU. If companies couldn’t sue people for telling the truth about them I’d post their name everywhere.
Day 3 of weaning. Baby is exhausted and cranky, I’m exhausted and cranky. Heat and humidity are unwelcome at this moment, but I’m sure I’ll be complaining when the temperature tanks and it starts raining too.
My favorite band, 100 gecs is finally coming to Japan, which I am super excited for, but it’s on Fuji Rock, which I absolutely don’t care about. It’s expensive, far, and only have one other band that I am interested in. I don’t want to go all the way to Niigata and pay 20,000 for a ticket just to see gecs. But I really really really want to see them. fuuuuuuck.
The fact that so few people actually discipline their children here, will forever piss me off. I don’t mean hitting them, obviously, just that most need to learn the word “no” and that violence is not funny.
1) my mind/mental wellness- I’ve made a lot of progress in the last few years, am honestly in the best state of mind I’ve ever been and don’t seriously want to d** or hurt myself. But I still find my thoughts going “I should be doing this with more gung-ho.” “Why the hell am I not pumped up.” when I’m in class/at the gym/studying/at work and then it becomes “damn I really do not deserve to live” and it’s absolutely ridiculous
2) I have a couple long term goals. They are rather ambitious and I need to be patient and that makes me anxious a lot. I have a rough idea of what I need to do to get there but I struggle to organize them to give them direction and remember them- is there an app for that?? Some interactive flowchart/mindmap maker of sorts with a python esque interface that goes on forever? I don’t know how to code
3) classes that have no designated textbook and my inability to truly understand and internalize information that was abstracted by someone else (lecture slides)
4) I suck at drawing!!!!!
5) is it just me or are Japanese pants (that are not the oversized cargo pants that are in vogue rn) very unfriendly to people with asses
6) the gym bros/football team have moved on from bringing and not supervising their inexperienced girlfriends to the gym to bringing and not supervising their inexperienced capital S Skinny guy friends to the gym. And my god, their form is actually worse and dangerous?????? They were squatting with a CURVED SPINE among other dangerous shit, full on hernialand/snap city/torn bicep territory. I wish they would stick to the machines this is absolutely fucking scary.
Mostly I love where I live, despite the relative remoteness of everything. I can even take having to walk 30 minutes to the JA office over the hill to pay my gas bill (they don’t do konbinis or banks or other strange things like that – a lady who now knows my name, opens a little cash box to count out my change).
But I do wish I could solve the gomi problem. My immediate neighbours have not yet (it has only been a year) been persuaded to let me use their private gomibasho. To be fair they are mostly very elderly and actually reaching a consensus is probably quite hard. My Japanese partner has persevered.
In theory there are community associations further away with their own basho, but no-one quite knows how that works. We’ve caught one group at a centre, but they thought I might have to join a different one, but no-one (yakuba included) knows if they have contact details for someone let alone who they might be.
I eventually got special permission to use the one at the yakuba, but it is quite awkward. There’s a fairly narrow time window (3pm on the previous day to 8am in the morning); the gomi schedule is quite complicated, and I have to take the train (albeit only one stop) to get there to put gomi in.
M company sometimes give mixed messages. For example, they say “we don’t allow overtime since we value work life balance and will strictly discipline any managers who force OT.” Yet, I’ve had my manager approach me multiple times asking if I “want” to do OT. They’re kinda sneaky in that they don’t demand or request we do OT, but try to make it that we “want” it.
My workload is not enough to do OT; I generally finish all of my work by 3pm and pretty much kill time as discreetly as possible. Yet, yesterday again, they approached me and said, “How’s your work? You can always do OT if you want. You need the money, right?”
I’m sick of pretending convenience store food is good. It’s all garbage
Why are the trains and stations so hot? Where is the aircon?
It’s only June 6 and I already have 10 hours of overtime. I left 7pm yesterday at work (working hours end at 5:45) and they all say ハヤ！
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There are some really cute Uzbek conbini workers recently but they can’t speak English :’(
Everywhere I go there are just so many unnecessary announcements, instructions and signs.
From the simple “watch your step” to periodic announcements in parks and public areas saying stupid things like “please remember the park closes at 6pm” and (still!) talking about COVID and social distancing. I can’t enjoy a quiet day in the park with all these announcements.
Not to mention all the signs saying “don’t touch this”, “don’t park your bicycle here”, and of course, the “smoking prohibited here” that everyone ignores anyways.
Last Saturday, I observed a gentleman at my local train station engaged in clearing his nose. He achieved this by blocking one nostril at a time and expelling the contents of the other nostril upon the platform. Three times per nostril. While I contemplated using my phone to record this upstanding fellow engaged in a unique and often poorly understood cultural activity, his wife (had a wedding ring) started talking to him about something entirely unrelated and I was so shocked that another person saw fit to marry him (or at least be in close proximity with him voluntarily), I completely forgot what I was about, and didn’t realise the missed opportunity until the train arrived and I sensibly got on another carriage to avoid walking in the residue from his nasal cavities. Drat!
At work, went for break but couldn’t find my umbrella. I ask if anyone has seen it. As I’m describing the umbrella to coworkers, a guy comes in from his break and says,
“Oh that umbrella? I took it.”
I say, “So where is it?”
He hands me a different umbrella that’s not mine and says, “I left yours at the restaurant and took someone else’s. You can have it. It’s bigger than your old one anyway.”
I was like bruh, it’s not about the umbrella anymore. It’s about your attitude, and this action probably represents a bigger part of your personality.
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It’s sooooo warm and humid, but we’re not allowed to use the A/C yet apparently. I was already drenched in sweat when I got to the office at 8 a.m., and now I have to sit around and basically cook in these disgusting, clammy clothes for 10+ hours.
Some brave soul (not me) dared to turn on the A/C the other day, set to 26.5 degrees just to cut some of the humidity. One of the office ladies actually took nenkyuu to leave early and stormed out wrapped in a blanket while muttering about how that person was “trying to kill” her…
Am I cynic for not really believing the arrested thread?
Like, people make up so much shit on this sub, it’s hard to believe anything.
People riding bikes on the wrong side of the road.
Ooo been waiting to get this off my chest for weeks .
Starbucks Japan, hot take –
In Starbucks NA you can order less milk in any drink or “just a splash” and still have a full drink. Starbucks Japan if you order “牛乳を減らしてください” or “less ice, milk, anything” you basically get half a drink regardless the cup size you paid for.
Why isn’t Starbucks consistency a worldwide effort. “Why Japannnnnnn”
Doctor offices which allow online appointments but still make you handwrite all of your information and symptoms and you show up to the actual clinic. It’s so stupid. My handwriting is sloppy even in English, my kanji look terrible, and it’s a waste of the nurse’s time to enter all of that into a database.
Going through Keto (low carb) diet in japan is painful. Everywhere you go they give you so much rice.
Suki-ya was the only place I’ve seen give you the option to get rice substitute (tofu and veggie)
Any one know any good place for Keto/Mediterranean diet?
Been living here for 2 years, and my phone company suddenly stopped accepting my debit card. Spent a month researching credit card application processes here and decided on AEON. Went with a friend to apply, and had two staff members make sure everything was good to submit. They gave me some coupons and papers to take home with me, assuming I would be able to use them, but shortly after applying we checked my email to find I had been denied. Fuckin lovely lol
I’d like to complain about myself. I’ve been here for **6 years** and still don’t speak the language.
My bad. I’m planning on learning it the next half of this this year.
CAN WE STOP WITH THE RAIN SH1T NOW !
Pretty please ?
(Toyohashi… heading for round 2 of the big sauce in less than a week)
They don’t hold the door.
“Ahhh Japanese! They are so polite! Have good manners!”
Well, when it comes to someone walking in front of you, forget the good old manner “I’ll hold the door for you so it doesn’t shut on your face”.
OK, let’s be fair: Japanese MEN don’t do that. The ladies usually tend to hold the door for you, even if they are carrying stuff or being busy with their kids.
I put that on the fact that japanese men are raised like little kings/emperors and don’t give a flying fuck about the rest of the world when they are grown ups.
Women, having it a little bit harder than them, tend to be more empathic with other human beings, because they know. Men usually become giant toddlers, I saw some of them in my previous companies throwing tantrums that would make my 3 years old hyperactive nephew look like a buddhist monk loaded with Xanax.
Well, I digress but you get my point. If you live here. Or not.
Going on three years of salary bullshit thanks to COVID taking a bat to the knees of my company in 2020. It’s not at a level where I’m unable to save, or looking for a new job (I lucked out on the coworker lotto and don’t want to reroll my chances elsewhere), but ughhhhh. Just extra mad about it the past few months as business is starting to pick up.
Tested out a new sleep app and it says I need 9-10 hours of sleep a night to get rid of my sleep debt for good. Yeah sure thing, sounds great, just give me 3+ extra hours in the day and I’ll get right on that (let’s be real I’ll use those hours for me-time before bed)
I miss WFH so much.
Some idiot is going around spray painting “FACK!” on every pillar and post in my neighborhood.
At least we know he’s Japanese.
I made post about this but I deleted it and thought I should just do a little complaint here from my throwaway
Is it weird that I don’t want to spend time with my brother’s wife’s family? (We are foreigners who both moved here separately. I’m a woman btw). Her family feels so far removed from me, I don’t know why I’m expected to attend when his wife’s mum comes to visit from their hometown. It’s so exhausting.
It’s his family, not mine right? He gets annoyed when I say no thank you, and also when I decline to spend GW, NY and Obon at his wife’s parents house 550km away. Like what? I’m an adult. To me, spending time with them when they visit is just a huge load of kiwotsukau and I’m sorry to say, is pretty much completely unrelated to me. It seems like he’s forcing his family obligations with them onto me and it feels unfair
Don’t get me wrong, they were very very kind and welcoming to me when I first arrived which I’m grateful for. They’re nice people. But that was 10 years ago and honestly I have my own life now, and don’t want to spend my weekend at his wife’s sister’s house with their mum. If I did go, it would be out of obligation which I’m not interested in at all. I like spending time with him and his wife, but I’m not interested in spending time with her family and don’t get why I’m always invited and expected to come.
Is that awful of me? Am I being ungrateful? Do I owe them my presence because they were kind to me? Am I being really antisocial? Maybe so, but this is my complaint and it’s the truth. I don’t understand my supposed obligation here and wish they’d leave me be 🙁
Moving back to home country and at the moment, my room is a mess of boxes and bags and empty furniture that I can’t quite move out yet.
Also while I’m keeping most cold feet feelings at bay, I am a little worried about how long I’m gonna be unemployed.
And of course, in a few weeks I won’t be able to interact with you lovely people.
Amazingly enough, I got nothing to complain about today. Possibly because I’ve been homebound for a week with a bad flu (not COVID fyi). I am sure I’ll have something for you lot next week 
Already posted in this thread earlier today but I had something else to add right now as I’m in a internal meeting.
Everyone was like, let’s try this let’s try that etc without actually thinking how it could be done and the skills necessary for it to be done.
**Specifically**: they wanted to have some kind of public but read only calendar so our clients can book one of the meetings room on themselves without going to us for everything. However, I am the one who handle that one special big room that client can use for free once per month. If they (the other staff) can’t answer the incoming inquiries they have the option to either forward me the emails or give the clients my card so they can bother me instead.
I don’t mind at all and have not once complained about the workload. I actually like replying to emails all day long. Supervisor had the audacity to say it’s a waste of time. Whose time you mean?
Anyway, they wanted the calendar to be limited to 2 months ahead only, and can be view publicly without a Google account, only showing from 9am, etc. basically what you can’t do with simple google (I think). They also think IT department, which are not even in Japan btw, can just add one single line of code and everything shall be magically okay.
I have no tech knowledge whatsoever but it’s not that simple simple right?
FYI: I’m on a contract that may or may not get renewed soon so at some point I asked myself why must I be in this meeting if they’re not willing to listen? Why am I trying to help if I’m not gonna be here that long anyway?
The wife and I both have remote jobs. My company doesn’t care where I work as long as I get it done. Hers won’t let her work outside of the country.
We wanted to go to Bali for a few weeks this summer. But having to take all those vacation days is a PITA. I guess no trip then.
Friend got into this MLM shit, don’t think I can pull her out. Not really my problem by still.