Putting on Makeup on the Way to Work
Most in the US have seen women putting makeup on while driving. With the hectic lives most families live these days, I can understand the need for multi-tasking. Most people are doing multiple things at the same time in order to get everything done. This need for multi-tasking seems to be pretty true in Japan as well.
Many times while riding the train I have witnessed one or two women putting their makeup on. I have seen women of almost all ages applying their makeup while riding the train. After all, most commutes seem to be 20 minutes or so per train, and most people I know ride 2-3 trains per commute, so there is a lot of free time on the trains. Most women prefer to sit down while applying makeup, but I have seen a few of the younger ones put makeup on while standing on the train. Standing up while putting makeup on requires a good sense of balance as most women use one hand to hold a compact mirror and the other hand to apply their makeup, so they have no free hands to hold on with. I especially notice the makeup applying during the evening commute as most people that head out for the evening do so directly from work rather than going home first.
This week I witnessed the most interesting occurrence of makeup applying while on the walk from the train station to my office. Twice this week while waiting for the crosswalk at the intersection nearest my work, I noticed the same lady pull up on her bicycle to wait for the crosswalk, reach into the basket on the front of her bicycle, unzip her makeup bag, and begin applying her makeup. This morning she was using her eyelash curler to make sure her eyelashes were curled just right. As soon as the crosswalk was clear for us, she quickly tossed her supplies in her bag, zipped it up, and took off across the street. At the other side she needed to wait for the crosswalk in the other direction. While waiting, I noticed that again she pulled out her makeup and began applying it until it was clear to cross the street. I guess it’s not too different from women in the US applying makeup at each traffic light, I just thought it was amusing to see it done on a bicycle. But now that I think more about it, it makes perfect sense as people here use trains and bicycles rather than cars.
Many times while riding the train I have witnessed one or two women putting their makeup on. I have seen women of almost all ages applying their makeup while riding the train. After all, most commutes seem to be 20 minutes or so per train, and most people I know ride 2-3 trains per commute, so there is a lot of free time on the trains. Most women prefer to sit down while applying makeup, but I have seen a few of the younger ones put makeup on while standing on the train. Standing up while putting makeup on requires a good sense of balance as most women use one hand to hold a compact mirror and the other hand to apply their makeup, so they have no free hands to hold on with. I especially notice the makeup applying during the evening commute as most people that head out for the evening do so directly from work rather than going home first.
This week I witnessed the most interesting occurrence of makeup applying while on the walk from the train station to my office. Twice this week while waiting for the crosswalk at the intersection nearest my work, I noticed the same lady pull up on her bicycle to wait for the crosswalk, reach into the basket on the front of her bicycle, unzip her makeup bag, and begin applying her makeup. This morning she was using her eyelash curler to make sure her eyelashes were curled just right. As soon as the crosswalk was clear for us, she quickly tossed her supplies in her bag, zipped it up, and took off across the street. At the other side she needed to wait for the crosswalk in the other direction. While waiting, I noticed that again she pulled out her makeup and began applying it until it was clear to cross the street. I guess it’s not too different from women in the US applying makeup at each traffic light, I just thought it was amusing to see it done on a bicycle. But now that I think more about it, it makes perfect sense as people here use trains and bicycles rather than cars.
posted by Terry & Mio @ 3:15 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:55 PM,
Terry & Mio said…
It's funny you mention that. I was just talking to Mio about buying one to carry around with me. I was hoping my work cell phone would have a camera, but no such luck. I was in Portland in Decmeber but did not have time to shop arouond for one.
Hope you guys are doing well.
Terry
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