Dispute

Soon after I became a store manager at a pasta restaurant, there was a store manager meeting in the metropolitan area. It was a long time ago, so I don't remember clearly, but I think about fifty people gathered in total. It was my first time attending a store manager meeting, and since I didn't know what to expect, I went quite early.
Thinking I would kill some time, I went into a nearby McDonald's, where about three senior store managers from the same block were gathered.
"Oh, Hyaku. You're here," Mr. Takemura said, waving his hand.
Mr. Takemura was a former supervisor who had taken care of me when I was a new graduate. Besides Mr. Takemura, there were Mr. Shirata and Mr. Okuyama. Mr. Shirata was the most senior person in the block. I had heard a rumor that he once fell into a ditch behind a store and lost his glasses.
Mr. Takemura grinned and told me, "Meetings are just about listening to what the big shots have to say. It's nothing special."
Mr. Shirata frowned slightly and admonished him, saying, "Manager Takemura, you shouldn't really say things like that," to which Mr. Takemura replied with a "Hehehehe" laugh.
It was boring to be called to Tokyo from the morning just to listen to people talk, but I suppose they couldn't just not hold the meeting. There was no point in me saying anything about it. On the contrary, I decided to accept that if all I had to do was listen, it would be quite easy.

I was feeling relieved with that mindset even after the meeting started, but after the second-highest-ranking area manager finished speaking, someone shouted, "Wait a minute!"
He was a handsome man of about thirty.
"Wait a minute!"
"...Yes?"
The area manager said that, but he looked thoroughly fed up.
"I heard that someone who just came from another department is going to be appointed as the manager for Block B. Is that true?"
The point of his argument was that instead of letting someone who just arrived from another department and had almost no experience as a store manager take the position, they should appoint a veteran store manager. The veteran he was referring to was likely himself.
"I agree," said another veteran, who stood up and joined in. This one looked a bit like Bert from Sesame Street. So, he wasn't exactly handsome.
"Company policy is to aggressively pursue new store openings, and the number of new store managers and second-in-command employees is increasing. Clearly showing that one can become a block manager after working as a store manager if they work hard is what gives people working at this company the motivation to do so."
"Conversely, if someone who just arrived from elsewhere suddenly takes that position, there will be no reason to work hard, which could lead to an increase in resignations."
Everyone from the block manager level and up was frowning and staying silent. Since the handsome man and the Sesame Street lookalike were making valid points, they probably couldn't just shut them up.
I didn't think the company would overturn a decision they had already made just because of some opposition, but it was interesting to see how this would play out. I stayed silent and listened, grinning inwardly. I suspect all the other store managers felt the same way.
When I looked next to me, Mr. Takemura had his eyes closed and was dozing off.

The handsome man's name was Mr. Hamada. Mr. Hamada quit shortly after that.
Ten years later, I had a supervisor with the same name at a different workplace. He was a troublesome person. He wasn't particularly handsome, and I'm sure he had no relation to that Mr. Hamada.