Slacker Radio Calisthenics

At the company where I used to work, there was a time for "radio calisthenics" every day at 3:00 PM.

It is somehow embarrassing for grown adults to move their bodies in unison in an office.

Every day, I would just go through the motions reluctantly and without any enthusiasm.

The HR manager noticed this and repeatedly warned me to "do the exercises properly."

There was no way I was going to start doing the exercises properly just because I was told to.

So, I would hide behind a thick pillar, blocking the manager's line of sight, and while making sure no one saw me, I would lazily wave my arms and pretend to do the knee bends.

That was how I spent my days, but...

A blind spot existed in an unexpected place.

At the time, construction of a new building was underway behind the company.
Of course, it was being built by our company.

The construction workers were at the same height as the third floor where I was.

And my position, hidden behind the pillar, was "in full view" of the construction site for my lazy calisthenics.

One day at 3:00, the radio calisthenics music started playing, and as I began my lazy routine behind the pillar as usual, I heard some lively voices from outside.

"Hey, do it properly!"

"Your arms aren't stretched out!"

When I turned around, the workers had gathered on the third-floor deck of the site and were grinning at me.

It seems my "truly unenthusiastic radio calisthenics" had hit the spot for those working on the site.

From then on, whenever 3:00 rolled around, the construction workers would all gather on the company side.

The enthusiastic (?) heckling from outside became so noisy that the HR manager finally came over, looked back and forth between the window and me, and made a snide remark.

"Mugi-kun, you're quite popular on the site, aren't you..."

I became so embarrassed by 3 o'clock every day that I decided to go to the site office.

I stormed into the prefab site office.

"Stop gathering at 3 o'clock to heckle me! Even the HR manager is making sarcastic comments about it!"

When an office lady like me, who looks a bit flashy at first glance, went to the site office, everyone came out, finding it amusing.

And then, the next day at 3 o'clock arrived.

I couldn't hear any heckling, and I didn't see anyone gathering.

The moment I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was over,

I turned around and saw everyone running to the third-floor deck all at once, lining up perfectly at equal intervals, and starting a incredibly sharp version of 'Radio Calisthenics No. 1' facing my office.

They stopped making noise, but they were silently putting pressure on me to do 'proper radio calisthenics'.

I had no choice, so from that day on, I decided to stretch my arms a little more seriously.

Walls have ears, and construction sites have eyes.

(I heard that kids these days think the saying is 'Walls have ears, shoji has Mary.' Are they Westerners or something?!)

I wonder if 3 o'clock radio calisthenics was a common thing at construction companies...

I find myself wondering about it now, after all this time.

*It seems that radio calisthenics started with 'Japan Post Insurance'.*