Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata

A short read. An examination of everyday life through the eyes of a Japanese woman, whose job is that of a convenience store worker. Much deeper in a sense of overall capitalism, a sense of self-identity, and conformity to the overall demands and expectations of society.It will transform how you view going into convenience stores – if not in your home country, most certainly in Japan. Her philosophy --- when you work in a convenience store, people often look down on you for working there. She found this fascinating, and she looked them in the face when they did this to her. And she would always think: that’s what a human is. Her life, she came to realize, was that of a convenience store worker, and she didn’t realize that completely until after leaving her job after 18 years. All those years -- The normal world has no room for exceptions and always quietly eliminates foreign objects. Anyone who is lacking is disposed of. Being put down, looked down upon by family and friends for what they think and how she should act and carry herself. Example: “These past two weeks I’d been asked fourteen times why I wasn’t married. And twelve times why I was still working part-time. So for now I’d decide what to eliminate from my life according to what I was asked about most often I thought.” Her co-workers didn’t accept her either. Only the customers remained unchanged and continued to need her to be a perfect store worker for them. She thought the rest of the staff was made up of the same cells as her, but this strange village mentality was taking over and they were fast reverting to ordinary males and females. Now only the customers still allowed her to be just a convenience store worker. It’s a bizarre, yet unique book in the essence of storytelling.