Ami was staring with keen interest at these ladies, squawking like tropical birds. It couldn’t be helped – young children were attracted by sound and light. And they were so raucous that even the grownups found it hard to ignore them.
Ami was at that vexing age when she insisted on asking why certain things were the way they were.
‘Granny,’ she looked up at Tokié and then turned towards the housewives, ‘how come they’re making so much noise, even though they’re grownups?’
Worried that Tokié might not be able to hear her over the women’s talking, Ami had raised her own voice to pose her innocent question, making it audible to more people than she might have intended, and several of the other passengers let out an unsuccessfully suppressed giggle.
‘When we went on a field trip at nursery school, our teacher told us to be quiet on the train. But for grownups, it’s OK?’
Again, there were a few giggles.
Tokié looked down at her granddaughter and shrugged.
There was a pause in the housewives’ chatter as they looked over and glared, with brows arched.
‘Hey! What are you teaching that child?’
The one who lit the spark was sitting in the middle of the group, the apparent queenpin.
Now Tokié herself spun around to face them.
‘I am teaching my granddaughter the basic rules of civility.’
Tokié’s sharp retort elicited further sneers from other passengers, and the housewives’ faces flushed with anger.
‘Wha … What do you mean by “civility” when you’re the one bringing a dog onto the train?! If that’s what you think is civilized, then it’s easy to imagine what’s in store for that child!’
Holding Ken’s carrier in one hand and taking Ami’s hand with the other, Tokié briskly walked over to stand in front of the housewives.
Her assured step belied her age, and the women seemed to quaver ever so slightly. They must not have expected her to rise to the challenge.
‘Listen now,’ Tokié began speaking in a firm tone, like the one she used when she taught high school. ‘Provided that one pays the designated fare, one may rightfully bring a dog or a cat that is in a carrier onto the train. My granddaughter and I are in compliance with the rules of bringing a pet onto the train. Here is our ticket.’
Tokié took Ken’s pet-fare ticket out from her purse and held it up to show the women.
‘Your remarks that we are lacking in civility have no basis in fact. We are abiding by the rules and regulations of Hankyu Railway, so if you have any objections, bring those up with the railway company.’
The comeback came from another direction.
‘It stinks!’ cried the woman who had frowned at Tokié and Ami when they got on the train with the carrier. Rather than meet Tokié’s gaze, she locked eyes with Ami. ‘That dog stinks! I can’t stand the smell so keep it away from me!’
Ami’s face turned bright red.
‘He does not! I gave Ken a shampoo myself just yesterday! I bathe him regularly so he definitely does not stink!’
‘How can you even tell what the dog smells like?’ the voice of a young woman chimed in.
Without anyone noticing, that heartwarming couple had entered the fray. The voice belonged to the young woman carrying the canvas tote bag with the internationally recognized mouse on it.
‘The air in here reeks of so much perfume it makes me sneeze.’
‘It’s nauseating, isn’t it?’ Her boyfriend nodded in agreement.
The fresh young beauty flashed a smile at the band of housewives.
‘It seems you’re wearing quite expensive perfume but perhaps you don’t know the proper way to apply it? Just a dab behind the ears or on the wrists is enough. There’s no need to spray it on like deodorant. That will just be offensive to those around you. You may not even be aware that all of you seem to have lost your sense of smell, so if you think you can detect the stink of the dog, then your nose must be stronger than even that dog’s nose!’
She had hit the bull’s eye, because they all instantly blushed. There was no refuting what the young woman said.
‘In fact, the pup’s shampoo smells quite nice.’
She smiled at Ami, who nodded happily in agreement.
‘Ken’s shampoo smells like flowers!’
Very nice, indeed. The young woman turned back towards the housewives. Her expression was serious again.
‘Humans have an advantage over dogs. No matter how much noise they make, no one’s ever going to put
This young woman seemed to have hijacked the argument away from Tokié, who was trying to think of a way to defuse the situation when the young woman’s boyfriend added his own punchline, with pitch-perfect delivery: