Who Decides What’s Normal; Convenience Store Woman
Recently I got back into reading books. No, not manga with visually pleasing images, but a book filled with just words. Luckily, I was able to find this gem revolving around the daily life of a convenience store worker in Japan. Fictional, but it fills that ‘slice of life’ story I’m looking for. If you want to read a novel about a woman who lives and breathes being a convenience store worker, then read this book–NOW!
~Spoilers~
I enjoy how this novel revolves around what society considers “normal.” We follow the journey of Keiko Furukura, a woman in her thirties who never understood society norms, but tries her best in being perceived as a normie. She deals with family and friends who question her life choices every step of the way.
You have to get married at some point!
Says who?
You can’t be a part-time convenience store worker your whole life.
Why not?
These concerns are donned on her–constantly, but she always does her best to find an excuse to ease their worries. Any time she tries to be honest, they just don’t understand her logic. In elementary school a couple of kids get into a fight. People gather around, asking for someone to stop the fight, but ultimately just watch while doing nothing. Keiko, in elementary school herself at the time, grabs a shovel and whacks one of the kids in the head, immediately halting the fight. She ends up in trouble. When she tries to explain that she did it to stop the fight, people just tell her what she did was bad. In the norm, people generally know hitting someone else with a shovel is wrong. Keiko doesn’t understand and no one puts in the effort to explain why. The whole narrative is how people around her tell her how she should be living, but never saying it’s okay for her to be, well…different.
Some people are different, and that’s okay. Not everyone needs to fit in and follow the same path as everyone around them. They introduce another character that also has trouble fitting in, but he takes it…differently. He’s an incel. If you don’t know what that is, he pretty much complains about how he hates women for not liking him and how his life is so terrible while being total trash. He always repeats himself about the “Stone Age,” how society has never changed and only the strong guys get women blah blah blah woe is me act. It really did start to get annoying any time he spoke, yet it was interesting how Keiko used him for her own self-gain. He was still a terrible guy to her, never physically abusive, but leeched off her like a parasite–which he literally told her was his plan. She takes him in though to ease the minds of those around her. Needed a man? Now she has one. When she told people she finally found a guy, they immediately started creating their own narratives of how their life together is like, already trying to get them married. The only reason why they say she needs a husband is because her work life is still stuck; being a part-time worker at a convenience store for eighteen years.
No one truly understands how she feels working at the convenience store. Problem is, no one actually tries to understand her feelings about it. The store gave her life purpose, a sense of direction, a manual (literally) on how to act. She lived her life dedicated to the store, knowing the ins and outs, and what’s the most optimal way to help the store function. This was her comfort place, but everyone around her wanted her to “grow up” and leave it behind. Which she does with her new man at home, quitting and applying for corporate salary jobs. After she quits, a tone shift occurs. Her life no longer has that spark and she becomes depressed. She just sleeps and listens to what those around her tell her to do. Near the end of the book I did begin to worry that this would not have a satisfying ending; what if she just continues down this path because everyone tells her this is what normal people do?
Her saving grace…she goes to use the restroom. As she arrives early for her job interview, her guy needs to use the bathroom. She decides to go as well since she has time. Thus, entering a convenience store. It’s not the same store as she worked at before, but it has the same vibe. She enters during a busy time and starts to notice the little things around the store that could be improved. After helping out the staff, her boyfriend confronts her saying she needs to stop and get ready for the job interview. For the first time in her life, she stands up for herself. She explains that she no longer cares about following the “normal” life people tell her to have. She wants to be a cog in the convenience store machine again. She wants, to be happy.
I had a hard time putting this book down. There’s no chapters, but breaks in-between moments, giving a diary/journal entry type of feel. I loved how Keiko knew that she was absorbing mannerisms from the people around her. She talks about how her speech changes throughout her time working at the convenience store because of all her different co-workers. People do change depending on who they interact with; we reflect the environment that we live in. Slice of life is one of my favorite genres because no one lives their life the same way. We all embark on our own journey; everyone has a moment worth telling.
This novel not only tells us the interesting life of Keiko Furukura the convenience store woman, but also the beautiful story of how a person finally accepts themselves for who they really are.
Score - 10 out of 10