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Today was the second day of our "o-henro" pilgrimage tour. We visited twenty-three temples in Tokushima prefecture and seven in Kochi prefecture in two days.
We enjoyed most part of the tour so far, but there was some part we couldn't enjoy.
As I said in the entry of yesterday, our party has four members -- our boss in our school, one of my coworkers, me, and a young part-time tutor who used to be our student till a year ago when he entered the university.
For much of our tour, our boss drives the car. He often gets motion sickness, but when he drives the car by himself, he don't get carsick. My coworker, a math teacher, sometimes relieves Boss, but his driving is rather rough. I can't drive a car, as I don't have a driver's license. And the young tutor took the license quite recently. He hasn't been used to driving yet and doesn't like to take the driver's sheet.
When we were having dinner, our boss said to the young tutor, "You should pay all the charge by yourself. OK?" The tutor had scratched the doors of an oncoming car with our rental car's door. We had called the police officer for the papers which we need to have the insurance company pay for the repairs of the two cars. The rental company demanded us to pay only for the loss they had for sending their car to the repair shop and losing chance to get a customer who rents the car.
"We can share the charge." My coworker said to Boss. "No, I don't think so." Boss answered. "We shouldn't do so. The person who made a mistake should pay the penalty. That's the rule. He'll learn a lot from this experience."
"I'm against your opinion." My coworker said. "For example, Mr.Inukawa don't drive in our trip, so we owe more risk than him. I think no one should be damaged by working for others. That's the fair play, isn't it? We'd better share the charge."
"No, you shouldn't help him in such a way." Boss said. "If I were he, I wouldn't want to be pitied and I would want to pay by myself. That's the responsibility. He is damaged and he will learn. That's important."
"But that's unfair." My coworker said. He is a good friend of Boss and he often discussed something with Boss. "I don't want to have an unfair loss. If that's what you think, I'll never drive for you from now on."
"Well, then I'll drive the car all the rest of the way." Boss answered. "But I don't think I should do so. Just do as I said. That's the rule of the society."
"I'll pay. I gave you three trouble. That's the penalty." the young tutor said.
Later, on the way to our hotel from the tavern, my coworker asked me, "What do you think about that?"
"Well, your opinion sounds reasonable." I answered. "But I was thinking of another thing. What the young tutor did was not what he really wanted to nor what he did by himself. You told him to drive the car. Boss disagreed with that, but after all, he didn't stop you, though he could do so if he really wanted to. The young tutor can't go against you or me in almost any case. Actually, we aren't usually dealing with him even as an adult. And all of us knew he wasn't a good driver yet. So, all of we three are responsible for this accident, rather than himself."
My coworker didn't look like agreeing with me. What he thought important the most was fairness. What I was thinking of was responsibility. Boss was sticking to his rule and maybe thinking of his own authority.
Many people want just to do the right thing. But it is sometimes very difficult to judge what is "the right thing", isn't it?
We enjoyed most part of the tour so far, but there was some part we couldn't enjoy.
As I said in the entry of yesterday, our party has four members -- our boss in our school, one of my coworkers, me, and a young part-time tutor who used to be our student till a year ago when he entered the university.
For much of our tour, our boss drives the car. He often gets motion sickness, but when he drives the car by himself, he don't get carsick. My coworker, a math teacher, sometimes relieves Boss, but his driving is rather rough. I can't drive a car, as I don't have a driver's license. And the young tutor took the license quite recently. He hasn't been used to driving yet and doesn't like to take the driver's sheet.
When we were having dinner, our boss said to the young tutor, "You should pay all the charge by yourself. OK?" The tutor had scratched the doors of an oncoming car with our rental car's door. We had called the police officer for the papers which we need to have the insurance company pay for the repairs of the two cars. The rental company demanded us to pay only for the loss they had for sending their car to the repair shop and losing chance to get a customer who rents the car.
"We can share the charge." My coworker said to Boss. "No, I don't think so." Boss answered. "We shouldn't do so. The person who made a mistake should pay the penalty. That's the rule. He'll learn a lot from this experience."
"I'm against your opinion." My coworker said. "For example, Mr.Inukawa don't drive in our trip, so we owe more risk than him. I think no one should be damaged by working for others. That's the fair play, isn't it? We'd better share the charge."
"No, you shouldn't help him in such a way." Boss said. "If I were he, I wouldn't want to be pitied and I would want to pay by myself. That's the responsibility. He is damaged and he will learn. That's important."
"But that's unfair." My coworker said. He is a good friend of Boss and he often discussed something with Boss. "I don't want to have an unfair loss. If that's what you think, I'll never drive for you from now on."
"Well, then I'll drive the car all the rest of the way." Boss answered. "But I don't think I should do so. Just do as I said. That's the rule of the society."
"I'll pay. I gave you three trouble. That's the penalty." the young tutor said.
Later, on the way to our hotel from the tavern, my coworker asked me, "What do you think about that?"
"Well, your opinion sounds reasonable." I answered. "But I was thinking of another thing. What the young tutor did was not what he really wanted to nor what he did by himself. You told him to drive the car. Boss disagreed with that, but after all, he didn't stop you, though he could do so if he really wanted to. The young tutor can't go against you or me in almost any case. Actually, we aren't usually dealing with him even as an adult. And all of us knew he wasn't a good driver yet. So, all of we three are responsible for this accident, rather than himself."
My coworker didn't look like agreeing with me. What he thought important the most was fairness. What I was thinking of was responsibility. Boss was sticking to his rule and maybe thinking of his own authority.
Many people want just to do the right thing. But it is sometimes very difficult to judge what is "the right thing", isn't it?
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We enjoyed most parts of the tour so far, but there were some parts we couldn't enjoy.
As I said in the entry from yesterday, our party has four members: our boss in our school, one of my coworkers, me, and a young part-time tutor who used to be our student till a year ago when he entered the university.
"From" sounds more natural there. You could also say "yesterday's entry".
And the young tutor (only) took the license quite recently.
He hasn't been used to driving yet and doesn't like to take the driver's seat.
I would say it like this: "he isn't used to driving yet" or "he hasn't gotten used to driving yet.
When we were having dinner, our boss said to the young tutor, "You should pay all the charges by yourself.
The rental company demanded of us to pay (or: demanded that we pay) only for the loss they had incurred for sending their car to the repair shop and losing the chance to get a customer to rent the car.
Or: "and losing the chance to rent the car out to another customer".
"We can share the charge," my coworker said to Boss.
"No, I don't think so," Boss answered.
"We shouldn't do that. / We shouldn't do it that way. / We shouldn't do it like that.
The person who made a mistake should pay the penalty.
You could say it like this if you want it to sound like a rule: The person who makes the mistake should pay the penalty.
Inukawa doesn't drive in our trip, so we take on more risk than him.
That's the fair play, isn't it?
"If I were him, I wouldn't want to be pitied, and I would want to pay by myself.
"He" is technically more correct than "him" here, but no one says it like that, and it sounds strange, so "him" is better.
That's the responsibility.
He is a good friend of Boss and he often discusses things with Boss.
What the young tutor did was not what he really wanted to do nor what he did by himself.
But if the young tutor was driving recklessly, and if he is habitually careless or reckless, then I think he should pay.
It was a narrow road and I think the young tutor wasn't driving aside enough. When we heard our car touch the oncoming car, he should have stopped the car. Instead, he stepped on the accelerator then. Maybe he was in a panic.
My coworker and I decided to share the cost, as Boss suggested. Each of us paid the quarter of the cost to the tutor. But actually I don't know what Boss did about this matter.