Kø-jobb

Utdrag fra artikkel fra The Japan Times Online:


THEIR TIME IS YOUR MONEY
Patience pays off for firms on standby to queue for you

With queuing playing such an important role in Japanese life — just watch any breathlessly excitable TV magazine program fearlessly reporting any day of the week on long lines outside noodle shops or dog groomers — there are even those who cash in on the phenomenon directly.

For the many benriyas (convenience companies) around the country that undertake any legal odd jobs, the business of lining up is now one of their most important sources of income.

Hiroshi Miyauchi, 48, has worked at Tokyo Benriya Jimusho for three years, one of many such companies in the capital.

"Up to 20 percent of our work is lining up for a client, such as for buying tickets for a popular concert, getting limited-edition brand items, or for otaku (geeky) people to buy collectors' items at comic markets," he said, citing Tokyo Big Sight in Koto Ward as a particular money-spinner, as it is often a venue for sales fairs of comic books and character goods.

While the average hours they queue are around six and the prices they charge around 15,000 yen, it is not rare for people like Miyauchi to have to stay in a line for more than 72 hours to get special brand items from makers like Hermes, he said.

The company gives discount for long queuing sessions, like 51,000 yen for 24 hours.

"Nights are tough, especially when it's winter, raining or a combination of both. Even when people in front or behind me drop out, I can't do it because it's work, and that's hard."

On cold evenings, he said that colleagues will often bring him hot food and a futon or a sleeping bag if he's going to be there overnight. But if it's raining, he said, then even the warmest sleeping bag is no use, and he'll just crouch all night holding an umbrella.

Among all the demanding queuing jobs he's done, though, Miyauchi said that those to hand in application forms for famous private kindergartens are the worst. Now a veteran of several of these "events" — where he usually poses as an uncle of the client's child — he commented: "I don't understand why kindergartens employ such a system (where they only accept applications from a first-come, fixed number of people who physically hand in their forms), but because of that we have sometimes queued for as long as five consecutive days, around the clock, on three 8-hour shifts."

Despite using such an irrational system, kindergartens claim it is forbidden to queue, and send teachers out every few days to scatter the line.

"When the teachers are out of sight, though, we of course emerge from our hiding places like behind trees and queue again. But it's incredible, people always politely queue exactly in the same order as before!," he chuckled, adding that people also cooperate with each other to take turns to go to the toilet or have a quick bite to eat. Miyauchi said he himself does not eat or drink during such queuing shifts — usually 8 hours at a time at his company — as it is bothersome to have to go to the toilet."