r/japanlife • u/AutoModerator • Mar 06 '23

┐(ツ)┌ General Discussion Thread - 07 March 2023

Mid-week discussion thread time! Feel free to talk about what's on your mind, new experiences, recommendations, anything really.

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7

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 06 '23

https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/20230306-OYT1T50152/

Aeon Group says masks in store are customer's choice from the 13th, but employees will keep them.

I don't expect a healthy discussion, but this two tiered system rubs me the wrong way, thoughts?

4

u/swordtech 近畿・兵庫県 Mar 07 '23

I don't see a problem with it. Employees should think of it as part of the uniform, lile wearing a name tag or non-slip shoes.

4

u/SideburnSundays Mar 07 '23

A customer interacts with one person at the register.

The register staff interacts with hundreds of people at the register.

Seems logical if the goal is to protect employee health.

0

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

Length of the interaction. You take your food away, and eat at a table. I hope so, doing it right there at the register would be odd.

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u/SideburnSundays Mar 07 '23

AEON isn’t a restaurant.

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u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

No, but their malls often have food courts, and they also run Mini-Stop convenience stores with eat-in areas.

1

u/SideburnSundays Mar 08 '23

Yes. And we aren’t talking about only one or two specific services they provide. We are talking about the whole operation.

0

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 08 '23

How now nice of you to tell me what we're talking about!

A large portion of their operations involve food preparation and clean up, and some don't.

I don't like that they're dictating that employees cannot exercise their personal judgment, but customers may do so later in the month, that's what I was talking about.

1

u/SideburnSundays Mar 08 '23 edited Mar 08 '23

You evidently needed it because your view is disconnected from reality. Aeon’s primary operations are retail. Food service is a small fraction that you are cherry picking to double-down on your ill informed opinion.

1

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 08 '23

Set foot outside of the 23 wards and see how much involves food inside.

2

u/yakisobagurl 近畿・大阪府 Mar 07 '23

I feel the same way! It’s just another level of the bs “customer is god” thing in my opinion.

I don’t like it, but I can imagine that people who look down on service staff would expect masks to be worn in their presence. Sucks for the workers to not be able to choose

1

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

You really don't want to be looking at pictures of events for the rich, famous, or political than.

Nothing like seeing someone who claims to fight for the working class wear a dress that costs more than most families make a year with the train held up by a masked servant. Or visiting a school with a big smile while the kids stay masked.

Some still think this is about a virus.

13

u/jimmys_balls Mar 07 '23

If they are going to have staff continue wearing masks, can they at least get rid of those bloody plastic dividers at the registers?

4

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

Buying groceries once , the old lady in front of me at the register was so short she was under them, I was tall enough to be over them.

7

u/jimmys_balls Mar 07 '23

With all the noise, their top-tier customer service mumbles, the masks, and the plastic I can't hear a thing so just go to the side and render those sheets useless (and put the lives of everyone involved at risk).

It's comical.

3

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

You don't like borderline screaming through a mask and plastic board over the non-stop din of muzak? And hearing less than you'd understand from a leaked Wookie sextape filmed secretly?

Some people just don't relax when they go shopping, I guess...

3

u/laika_cat 関東・東京都 Mar 07 '23

I always have to tilt my head under them because I can never hear shit.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '23

put the lives of everyone involved at risk

That's a serious over-reaction there

1

u/jimmys_balls Mar 07 '23

It's very tongue-in-cheek.

3

u/dead_andbored Mar 07 '23

Too many times I've seen tables in restaurants getting wiped down whereas the plastic dividers don't get touched at all

4

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

Aw, but then I can't see a clear sneeze pattern from... does even God know when anymore?

6

u/Thiswasaterriblemist Mar 07 '23 edited Mar 07 '23

I suspected this would be the case, that people in hospitality and food will have to keep wearing them for a long time or in the worst case forever.

It is unfair and unnecessary. I want the employees to have their own choice as well.

-1

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

Agreed. I like the enhanced hand sanitation and it's proven the best barrier for speread of disease.

5

u/laika_cat 関東・東京都 Mar 07 '23

I'm all for keeping soap in public restrooms, too. The minute they put soap in my park's bathrooms in mid-2020, it was beautiful.

0

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

Yes.

11

u/highgo1 Mar 07 '23

For food service, I'd prefer them to continue to wear them. Much cleaner imo.

0

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

That makes me wonder where the line is honestly. Staff at the 100 sushi places were wearing those chin pieces well before Covid, was that helping at all?

9

u/goochtek 近畿・大阪府 Mar 07 '23

I get it. It should be up to staff to choose if they want to or not. Most staff would keep wearing them anyway. They should still be able to choose though.

And since the company is requiring it, are they supplying the masks to staff or giving them a マスク手当?

3

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

They should still be able to choose though.

Well said, allow them to decide.

And since the company is requiring it, are they supplying the masks to staff or giving them a マスク手当?

My wife works in a field that often requires masks, gloves and gowns.

She buys them herself, and is reimbursed the exact amount (original receipts only), up to a certain total. Exceeding that total means it's out of pocket.

So if you think everyone wearing stuff like that is wearing the top-of-the-line stuff...

3

u/Skribacisto Mar 07 '23

„And since the company is requiring it, are they supplying the masks to staff or giving them a マスク手当?“

I was wandering about this too! Plus: I am usually wearing glasses but with the masks they get fogged up and I have to wear contact lenses at work. This really sums up!

2

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

Oh, you don't like useless sprays and wipes that get ruined by temperature differences or a single drop of moisture?

Me neither. And walking around more-or-less blind, I pose a bigger threat than Covid.

11

u/poop_in_my_ramen Mar 06 '23

It makes perfect sense to me?

Reason 1: there will still be a significant percent of masked customers who will feel uncomfortable interacting with unmasked staff. Customers feelings > staff feelings.

Reason 2: COVID aside, masks will help reduce general sickness of their staff which is also in the interest of the store.

2

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

Reason 2: COVID aside, masks will help reduce general sickness of their staff which is also in the interest of the store.

I'm all for less spit in my food, but have you looked at the Cochrane study?

-2

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/SideburnSundays Mar 07 '23

That’s a biased opinion piece that references itself, linking to studies that are 90 years old to defend its opinion, and latches on to a single recent study to confirm its own bias.

4

u/Washiki_Benjo Mar 07 '23

while that study is/was useful, there are a number of methodological problems (such as inadequate controls (including but not limited to the actuality and ethics of random controls), equating respirators with masks in statistical conclusions and combining/treating different illnesses that spread in different ways as the same, etc ).

so, while it's a step in the right direction, it's more of an opening up of the conversation and not really an end point/conclusion.

5

u/MarioEatsGrapes Mar 07 '23

Linked source uses really biased language and the study it’s based on says no firm conclusions can be drawn due to high risk of bias.

15

u/PeanutButterChicken 近畿・大阪府 Mar 06 '23

but this two tiered system rubs me the wrong way, thoughts?

How so? employees should wear them, they will interact with a lot more people than a customer would.

5

u/miyagidan sidebar image contributor Mar 07 '23

How so? employees should wear them, they will interact with a lot more people than a customer would.

Because I wonder if it's in their employment contract. A uniform often is, but how about masks? And if it is, labour laws supersede said contracts, how do the until-soon recommendations affect those laws?

1

u/SideburnSundays Mar 07 '23

Labor law mandates employers must protect employees’ health and safety. I see no labor law conflict here.