wtf moments: old men vomiting at the train station

He looks much sweeter when he isn't face down in a pool of what used to be his dinner

Have you ever seen your grandfather drunk? Probably. Have you ever seen him get so drunk that he vomits all over a train station platform then passes out? Probably not. Yet in Japan this is not an uncommon occurrence. I’m sure many of you will have witnessed such a scene many times. Usually it’s a Friday night in Tokyo around ten or eleven, and all the company parties have finished. In Japan many people work beyond the usual retirement age and often well into their twilight years. But they are not exempt from the ritual that is the Friday night after work drinking party. Here they are forced (by social norms) to consume vast quantities of alcohol with their co-workers, some of whom are young enough to be their grandchildren. Then, as they desperately attempt to return home to the comfort of their armchair, Father Time taps on their shoulder and whispers in their ear that they are too old for this shit. And thus we see the tragic sight of a man who should be in front of a fireplace eating mushy pea soup instead produce something that looks remarkably like it. It’s true that you see a lot of the younger salarymen in a similar situation (no doubt proving their manliness and potential as management material), but it’s just not the same. You can only feel pity for the old guys who went that bit too far. It’s true that in other countries people start drinking at a younger age, or drink more, but the Japanese have to do it until they are at Death’s door. Fight on old men, fight on. Your rest from the destructive culture of alcoholism is just around the corner.