At one time or another, we probably all said I Quit to a job or perhaps we sent a nice resignation letter. I decided on this topic after reading an article about having another person come in and quit a job for you. What, so we are not in the good old USA but are looking at Japanese culture.
Working at the Laundry Service
So, what job did I Quit or resign from? OK, we need to go back years and years for this one, I recently graduated from high school. I got a job working at a laundry service. It was located nearby my home so I could take the bus and pay the .35 cents fare one way. No, I did not own a car at the time, so the bus was my only means of transportation.
My position was to fold white towels and work overalls all day, every day. You had a large table you worked from and had to stand on your feet all day long. Sometimes, I would pull a laundry cart a bit over so I could sort of sit on the edge of it. Then when you had a stack together, you would bundle it and tie it up with twine. This was the hard part because if you didn’t tie it tightly, it would start to fall part. Then the whole bundle was tossed in a large laundry cart.
Of course, there was no air conditioning in the building. The young gals who worked washing the laundry items were always soaking wet with sweat. They would stand near the opening to the loading dock to cool off. The workers were allowed to play a radio, so someone would always play country music on it. Actually, it was OK to listen to something as you worked. I remember the lady in charge of everyone was nice and always looked busy. Apparently, she worked there for over 20 years. I could never imagine working there that many years. At that time, some of the drivers were talking about how they needed a pay raise and there was some controversy about that. Not sure, but they might have belonged to some type of drivers’ union. I didn’t pay too much attention to that because it wasn’t my concern.
Yes, after about a months’ time, I went into the office and picked up my check and quit. It was at that point, I decided I couldn’t do this for a living and signed up for a fall Vo-Tech program.
I guess you could say quitting this one job changed the trajectory of my future. And take note, I had no difficulty in quitting this position.
I Quit in Japanese Culture
However, according to the newspaper article I read, Japan’s labor market was one of lifetime employment with same company. The work hours were long and afterwards; the employees went out and socialized with their bosses.
Then the boom years faded during the 1990’s and unhappy or frustrated workers began to find employment elsewhere.
All over the world, because of the pandemic, workers had time to have dinner with their families and began to realize how precious free time is.
However, today telling your boss in Japan you want to change jobs isn’t easy and now many people use a resignation service to quit. This way, workers keep the peace and do not need to confront their bosses.
Ending Notes on I Quit Blog
So, quitting a position was a good thing for me. It made me think about my future and what I wanted out of life. Did I get it? Yes, I sure did. After trade school, I got a job in a hospital and went to college part time until I graduated.
And, to think it all started with “I Quit”.
Resource Site: The Washington Post, Wed., July 2, 2025, article, “Hiring pros for the hard part of the job: Quitting.