Do You Support a Team or a Player?

My favorite Sharks hockey player Devin Setoguchi was traded to the Minnesota Wild. I didn’t imagine that he would be traded because he was awesome, especially during the 2010-2011 playoff games. This happened one day after the Sharks announced a three-year contract extension for Setoguchi!  I can’t understand what the contract meant.

Facts are facts. I’m still a fan of the Sharks, so I’m wondering what I should wear when I go to the Sharks games next season because I own a Setoguchi Sharks jersey. Should I buy a new one or wear the Setoguchi Jersey?

Question 1: What is my favorite team?

Of course, the San Jose Sharks.

Question 2: Who is my favorite player?

Of course, Devin Setoguchi.

Question 3: Do I like the Minnesota Wild?

Not so much, but I don’t hate them.

If the answer to the above question #3 were yes, it would be pretty easy to answer. I would become a fan of the Minnesota Wild. If I had another favorite Sharks player, the answer would be easy. I would buy a new Sharks jersey that had name and number on it.

Setoguchi is a special hockey player to me. He is Canadian Japanese. I cheer for him because we have a common heritage. For now, there are no Sharks players who are Japanese or part Japanese. From the perspective of my identity as a Japanese person, Setoguchi is the only player who I really want to support.

My wife said she would buy a Minnesota Wild Setoguchi jersey and go to Sharks home games wearing it. She is more likely to support a player than a team.

In one colleague’s case, his favorite player was traded from the Sharks several years ago. He wears the Sharks jersey with the ex-Sharks player’s name when he goes to the games. He said that he liked both the Sharks and the player and would not buy a new the Sharks jersey.

I don’t have my answer yet. Honestly, compared to last season, I have lost my enthusiasm for the Sharks. I have mixed feelings about the Sharks. Of course I love the city of San Jose, but I’m not a real San Jose local. I guess my desire to cheer for a player who is connected to Japan is stronger than my love for the San Jose Sharks. I think I will be able to figure out my answer while I’m watching the Sharks play the Wild next season.

By the way, products with Setoguchi’s name were being sold at half-price at the Sharks store. My wife and I bought more than 20 T-shirts. My new year’s resolution was to avoid buying things on impulse…

Car Wash

My wife’s relatives recently stayed our home for a week. They came here for vacation. We took them to Yosemite, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and a few other places. They enjoyed their visit in California. One day, my wife took them to the car wash. This is what impressed them the most during the trip.
They were amazed by the car wash shop system. The car wash process was efficiently divided into several stages. Different staff were assigned to each stage:

- Take the order
- Clean up the interior
- Collect payment

- Wax the car

- Wipe the car

They said that they would like to get this service in Japan, but I don’t think this business will work in Japan. There are 2 reasons.

The first reason is quality of car wash. In this car wash system, many people are involved in the car wash process. This system helps work simplify the work and increase simplicity, but I don’t think that this system keeps high quality finish. In addition, automatic car-wash machines are used in the car wash process. These are likely to make scratches on the car. To many Japanese, a car is a kind of luxury, so they are likely to be nervous about scratches on their cars. Some people are extremely obsessive about hand car washes. Quality is the first priority for Japanese car lovers.

Washing a car by hand is definitely hard work, so a new automatic car wash machine has been popular in Japan recently. It’s called a brushless car wash. It uses extremely high pressure water, strong blowers and forming cleanser. During the car wash, no one touches the car including the machine. After the automatic brushless car wash has finished, owners wipe and polish their car as they like.

The second reason is weather. During the dry season, we don’t have rain in California. Once we wash our car, we can keep our car clean at least 2 weeks, so we don’t need to wash our car very often. I don’t feel that it’s expensive to pay about $20 for a car wash every 2 weeks.

In Japan, they have rain frequently throughout the entire year. It’s hard to keep cars clean for a long time. I guess many people can’t afford to have their car washed regularly. In order to keep their car clean for a reasonable cost, they have to wash out the car by themselves or use a self-service automatic car wash.

I think the car-care business is closely related to climate and culture. I haven’t seen the same kind of store in Hawaii. It’s one of the interesting business models in California.

By the way, I’m very curious what kind of work the car wash staff doing during the rainy season in California.