Karaoke

It is often said that children today tend not to go out to play some sports such as baseball, soccer, and so on, compared to those a few decades ago. Instead they are addicted in especially playing TV games, enjoying the Internet, and reading comics. Moreover, there is one odious factor which prevents children from playing outside. This is ''Karaoke'' box, and I hate going to it for three reasons.

First, it is obvious that it is the waste of time and money to take the trouble to go to a karaoke box. Referring to time, I believe that ordinary people have many things to do ― club activities, studying, part-time jobs, and so on ― and therefore cannot spend each precious day devoting their energies into making a lot of noise in a karaoke box without feeling any guilty. As to money, for almost all university students, it is thanks to their parents’ paying a large amount of money to a university that students have been admitted and can lead their campus lives. If you are a student who lives alone now, imagine that those who left at your home can have nothing but very plain meals because of the great expense, and the foolish idea will never hit you that you are going to invest your money, which is as precious as time, in a karaoke box. For example, I know one unbelievable story about an extremely karaoke-addicted boy. Surprisingly, he loves karaoke so much that he studies there! He should think of his poor parents.

Second, I confess that I dislike being told by someone to sing in front of many people. To begin with, I must admit that I'm not a good singer. My inability to sing well inherits from my father. Here is one episode about him; one day, he was singing his favorite song cheerfully in a bath room, and after a while, my mother rushed into a bath room with her face full of fear. Interestingly enough, she assumed he was chanting the sutra there because he was singing so badly! This episode has made me convinced that I was destined never to sing well forever. In addition to such a rather funny factor, I also have serious ones. For one thing, the fact that I'm not familiar with what kinds of songs are popular with young people these days contributes to my refusal of the suggestion of singing in front of many. I'm sure that, for all of you, it is intolerable and humiliating that you are forced into performing something belonging to the field you are not informed of. So, my friend's behavior of trying to persuade me into singing gets on my nerves to such a point that I make up my mind never to talk with him for one week at least. Moreover, naturally, I am too cautious, so whenever I try to disclose myself to everyone else, I hear the inner voice which warns me against doing so. It always prevents me from doing anything that can tell others what kind of person I really am and let them know one unexpected side of my nature. Unless the day comes when the inner voice becomes inaudible to me, singing songs will be anything but pleasure for me.

Last, and perhaps best, I cannot stand to see my friends singing songs crazily and jumping up on the sofa. First, the big gap between the character of my friends in a daily life and that in a karaoke box is very shocking to me. Although they are usually quiet and mild, they make a lot of fun as though they became crazy once they enter a karaoke box. The drastic change makes me confused to such a point that I sometimes doubt whether they are really the same people as ones I usually hang around with. In addition, I want my friends to be sensible. There are certain things people with a good common sense should not do. The other day, when I was getting on the train on my way home, I found some girls at the age of about fifteen or so talking with each other very loudly. They were speaking without any hesitation some words which made passengers around them feel displeased or offended. The sight of them reminded me of the spectacle of my friends in a karaoke box. I think there are some, if not many, common things between them and the nasty girls. This is why I cannot help admitting that the spectacle of them in a karaoke box is so far from my ideal that I always wish I had not visited. I hate to see my friends singing and dancing crazily in terms of not only them but also myself; I feel myself miserable there. All of my friends are absorbed in their own work ―singing and dancing― so much that they always forget my existence. Their not paying attention to me at all evokes alienation and loneliness in me.

Therefore, a karaoke box is the last place that I want to go to. Why children and young people become captives of karaoke is a complete mystery to me. I long for seeing what children were a few decades ago: running around on the playground and enjoining sports cheerfully.