| Inventor :The Umbrella | |
May 13, 2016
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| A woman in her mid-thirties came to the inventor's office and started to tell of her concerns: She was a busy business woman. She was a section chief. Recently she suffered from depression for no apparent reason. Her counselor said that she was too busy and needed a holiday. So she took a long holiday and relaxed in a tropical island. But, as soon as she returned, her depression started again. "Is something wrong with your job?" the inventor asked. The woman replied, "I don't think so. My job is not so easy, it is challenging. I like it. Working with my boss and subordinates is also enjoyable." So there might be another reason for her depression, but the inventor hesitated to ask her about personal life. She was not beautiful but somehow attractive. She restarted herself, "My life is not so complicated. I live alone. My parents are healthy. I like to exercise. I like to walk in nature. I like to eat healthy food. I have no enemies, I believe, and, as of now, no one stalks me." She jokingly laughed. It was cute, he thought. The inventor said, "So, you have no idea what brings about your depression?" She replied, "No, I mean, I have a reason." "What? In that case, why didn't you tell me about it before?" The woman didn't answer the question, and started to explain: It was in June, several months ago. After work, she was walking downtown. It started
The inventor thought for a while and said, "I used to work as an engineer for an electric appliance company. One time we were developing a machine. We knew some people, especially women, felt headaches or dizziness, and even depression on rainy days. Some researchers pointed out that it is because of low atmospheric pressure, another name for this is 'depression', I'm not sure whether this depression is from the mental depression though." She was listening to his story with curiosity. He continued, "If atmospheric pressure becomes low, our parasympathetic nerve will become active, and it means that the human body becomes inactive. Instead, if we can make our sympathetic nerve active, the human body becomes active; so, we invented a machine under this theory." He continued, "We carefully researched the marketing aspect of this project, and we had confidence about its sales; but, the executives of our company absurdly rejected it!" She became inpatient. She was a busy business woman. "So what did your team invent?" He replied, "An instrument. According to the strength and pitch of the rain, the instrument could play music like a harp." She laughed and said, "You engineers must have been romantics. If I had been the head of your company, I would have also rejected it." He felt offended. He expected a warm reaction from her. The inventor said, "Forget it. I'll make something else so please come here again in one week." After she left, he was thinking about her. Maybe she was right. Rain itself is just a trigger. She has some deeper stress. But did he accept this job because she was attractive? "No, no." He thought to himself that maybe he just wanted a redemption for his past invention experience. "But how?" He had no idea. One week later, she came back to the inventor's office. The inventor showed her the gadget that he had invented. She looked suspicious. It looked just like an umbrella. With a smirk, she said, "I hope you don't want me to simply use this umbrella not to get soaked and to feel happy." Her way of saying it was a little bit blunt. He lost his momentum to explain how to use it, and said that this usage was too simple to explain. He added, "I suppose your depression has already started because it's going to rain this afternoon by the forecast." On this day, she took a half day off. She had wanted to see his invention as soon as possible. Because of her initial disbelief, she waited until it rained to see exactly what was special about the umbrella. She regretted her reaction. She ate a late lunch and left the restaurant. Soon it started rain. She breathed once and then pushed the button of the umbrella that the inventor invented. It was an automatic opening umbrella. She felt weak. It was just a plain umbrella. She looked at the umbrella closely but it seemed like just an umbrella. The surface of the umbrella was a design of printed flowers. It was colorful and beautiful, but it didn't seem to give off any special effect. She sniffed it as a try, expecting some fragrance to make her feel better, but there was no smell. The idea that she might have been deceived (she already paid a good amount of money.) occurred, and it made her feel more depressed. Soon the roof of an arcade appeared in front of her, so she pushed the button again and the umbrella closed automatically, without anything happening. After one block of walking, the arcade ended so she pushed the button and the umbrella opened. She jumped and shouted unwillingly, "Oh, my God!" The pedestrians around her looked at her. It was weird that a middle aged woman with an umbrella was standing astonished. There seemed nothing strange about her and the umbrella. She realized their reaction and smiled at them shyly as if it was her mistake, and they started to walk to go back on their way. She went under the eaves of the nearest shop and looked at the umbrella closely. The design on the umbrella was not the flowers anymore, it was the design of an animated whale, a rather cool one. As a try, she closed the umbrella again pushed the button and reopened it. This time it became the design of an animated cute girl. She thought to try it again but had a second thought and stopped. The girl on the cover was too cute to change. She was walking in the rain under her favorite umbrella. She was remembering her childhood days. At that time she liked the rain. She liked to walk in the rain under her umbrella that her mother chose. Now she felt happy, and was ashamed that she doubted the inventor's honesty, even if it was only one time. |
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*depression :憂うつ、うつ病
*apparent :明白な
*challenging :やりがいのある
*subordinate :部下
*atmospheric pressure :気圧
*parasympathetic nerve :副交感神経
*sympathetic nerve :交感神経
*redemption :救済
*eaves :軒(のき)