Mother at the Quay

My mother was a real go-getter.

When I was in elementary school,
she worked as hard as any man.

My mother worked at a concrete company,
starting out in administration,
but before I knew it,
she had moved out of the office
and was up in a tall tower (a control tower?),
where she would give orders
using a microphone.
My father was away working most of the time,
my grandmother did farm work,
and all three of them
had completely different jobs.

In our rural town, my mother's voice
could often be heard from the control tower,
and during my elementary school days,
I found it embarrassing.

"Nikoni's mom is
so energetic, isn't she?"
my friends would often say to me.

When I wasn't wearing my backpack
and was dawdling on my way home
with my friends,

my mother would call out from the control tower,
"Nikoni! Why are you dawdling?
Get moving properly!"
It's Nikoni's mom...
My friends would laugh.
Thinking, 'Oh, come on!',
I would run away.
"Get home properly!"
my mother would shout.

(Looking back, she was using company property
for personal reasons.)

I remember one time...
my mother,
whether she knew the microphone
was on or not,

was singing 'Mother at the Quay'.

(Since many people might not know it,
I'll explain.)

My mother was singing
Yuriko Futaba's cover version.
It's a super old song.

My mother's singing
could be heard from the microphone,
echoing all over town with her voice.

So embarrassing!

"Mother has come~🎶
I've come again today,
I've come to this quay again today,
knowing full well my wish
will not be granted..."

Who on earth is she
singing for?

If I had to compare it to the manga Doraemon,
she was as bad at singing
as Gian!

Mom,
you're really bad at singing,
so please stop!
It's embarrassing!

I told her to stop
more times than I can count.

Her answer?
She said something nonsensical like,
"What are you talking about?
I'm a great singer
when I do karaoke, you know."

That mother is already in her 70s.
She still loves the song 'Mother of the Quay',
and if it's available at karaoke,
she sings it like it's her signature song.
Her tone-deafness is still going strong!
But,
my mother doesn't think she's tone-deaf.
Instead, she blames the accompaniment,
or says the microphone is wrong,
and thinks she's actually good.

The reason my mother thinks she's a good singer

A few years ago,
there was a karaoke contest
in town.
At that karaoke contest,
she sang that signature song of hers.

With great confidence,
my mother sang while drifting off the beat.
The audience at the venue
started laughing as they listened.
But my mother,
was singing away happily all by herself.
And then,
when she finished singing,
the mayor seemed so moved by the sight of my mother
singing with such confidence that
he apparently praised her, saying,
"You're very good!"

No, no,
you're praising her wrong,
Mr. Mayor!
My mother's singing
is basically noise.
If you were going to praise her,

you should have said,
"The notes are off, but
your confident singing styleis wonderful."

I wish he had stopped at that.

Thanks to that,
my mother took the mayor's words
as a stamp of approval
and believes she is a good singer.

When she goes to a super sento,
my mother sings
that song at karaoke.
She looks so happy.

And the people around her are laughing.
But because my mother thinks she is
a good singer,
no matter if people around her are laughing,
she believes that because she thinks her singing is
good,
she even interprets that laughter
as praise.

She's completely
misunderstanding things,
but does she have high self-esteem?
No, it's way too high.

My friends
still tell me,
"Nikonichi's mom
is so energetic, isn't she?"

A mother who isn't swayed by other people's opinions.

In a way, I'm envious lol.
But,
the fact that she can't
listen to what others say
is also a bad point lol.

Well, I've given up and accepted that that's just who my mother is.

For a mother like that,
since she's already old, I want her to
live as she pleases.

I want her to
stay healthy forever.
My mother singing 'Mother of the Quay' lol.

Who would have thought you could buy 'Mother of the Quay' on Amazon.........

..............
Self-introduction
From 'I've started to like note ❤️'.

#Mother on the Quay
#Mother
#Tone-deaf
#Overly high self-esteem
#My Road
#Headstrong
#Doesn't listen to others
#Karaoke