Yesterday, I went to the United Nations Tokyo Office for some issues. Before the appointment I was staying at a McDonald’s near the office. The moment I entered the McDonald’s, I was shocked that there was a white girl at the counter. What’s more, a young shy white boy was cleaning the floor.
I was too surprised to say my order clearly. I didn’t think that any white people would have a part time job at McDonald’s. This is because many McDonald’s in Tokyo have more foreign staff members who come from South-East Asia than they do Japanese. It seems that even Japanese people don’t like to do this part time job.
When I was living in West Japan, I worked at a McDonald’s for a while. The work place was dirty and the work was hard during rush hours, so I put McDonald’s on my black list and never want to do that kind of job again. When I saw those white people, I felt sorry for them. I wonder why they don’t teach English or do something else.
After coming home, I thought a lot. Maybe they don’t speak English in the first place; they might actually be European. Perhaps they can’t speak Japanese well yet, so they don’t have too much choice in the job market. Anyway, I thought white people are treated specially because I always see others gather around white guys.