私が高校生くらいの頃、世はバブルの時代で、巷では女子大生ブームが巻き起こっていたと記憶している。特に際立った特徴を持たない女性でも、女子大生と言うだけで人気を集め、社交場などでもてはやされていた。今ではちょっと信じられないクレイジーな現象だったが、そんなことがまかり通っていた。何でも流行れば誰もが我先にと飛びついた。トレンドにいかに敏感かということが重要視されていたように思う。
　早く女子大生になりたいと言っていた女子高校生たちが大学に入るころには、どういうわけかブームの対象が女子高生に下がって移行したようで、私の年代の女子高校生たちは割を食った形になった。目も当てられないほどに憐れだった。テレビ番組の「オールナイトフジ」から「夕やけニャンニャン」に人気が移っていった、と言えば分かる人には分かりやすいだろうか。

　私のイメージだけのことなのかもしれないが、私が20代の頃は、社会はおっさんたちが牛耳っていたように思う。おっさんに気に入られなければ、会社にも入れないし、入ったところで出世はできない。だから先ずおっさんたちに認められるにはどうするべきかを必死に考えていたように思う。
　気難しいから“おっさん”なのであって、彼らはなかなかすぐには若造を褒めたり認めてくれたりはしない。むしろ若いと言うだけで目の敵にされていた印象だ。一朝一夕に結果を出すことは難しく、ある程度の期間を通して高い実績を残していかなくては、一人前にはなれないという感覚があった。私にとって世の中は極めて厳しい世界に見えていた。

　ところが若い女性たちにとっては、支配者であるおっさんたちは“いいカモ”だったような印象だ。おっさんたちに一瞬で気に入られて、懐に取り入ることができる。そしておっさんたちを手なずけ、若くして成功を収められる人がいたこともあったと思う。私はそういう女性たちに嫉妬していた。儲けることに一つの成功を見出していた当時の私は、いつかきっと成功してみせると、奥歯を噛みしめていたこともあった。そういう意味でも当時の社会はおっさんたちに支配された、れっきとした男性社会だったと思う。現代でそんなことがあったらたちまち大きなスキャンダルになるのだろう。

　時代は変わった。今のおっさんたちは新入社員が会社を辞めないように、あの手この手で引き留めるにかかるそうだ。福利厚生の待遇を厚くしたり、転勤を強要しなかったり、休日を増やしたりなどして、お得感を創出する。そうまでしての優秀な若い働き手の確保は企業にとっての重要課題らしい。
　私とは違って優秀であるが故に引き留められる若者がいるのだろうが、それにしてもおっさんと若者の立場は逆転したような印象さえある。若者がおっさんに認められるために頑張って、ようやくおっさんになった頃には若者に気を使わなければならないという皮肉さは、女子大生ブームの最中に高校時代を過ごした乙女たちの悲哀を想起させる。時代に惑わされ、自分らしく生きるための軸足を置く場所が定まらず、ウロウロ徘徊していた頃には、私はやっぱりもう戻りたくない。

　♪エ～～、リィィーーー

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Around the time of TV program “Fuzoroinoringotachi”

　When I was in high school, the world was in the bubble era, and I remember that there was a boom of female university students in town. Even women with no outstanding characteristics were popular simply because they were college girls, and they were much sought after at social gatherings. It was a crazy phenomenon that is hard to believe nowadays, but such things were commonplace. Whenever something became popular, everyone jumped on it. I think the importance was placed on how sensitive one was to trends.
　By the time the high school girls who wanted to be college girls entered college, somehow the target of the boom had shifted to high school girls, and high school girls in my generation were left out. It was so pitiful that I could not even look at them. It would be easier to understand if I told you that the popularity of the TV program “All Night Fuji” shifted to “Yuyake Nyan Nyan”.

　Perhaps it is just my image, but when I was in my twenties, society seemed to be dominated by old men. If you were not liked by the old men, you could not get into a company, and even if you did, you could not rise in the ranks. Therefore, I think I was thinking desperately about what I should do to be accepted by the old men.
　They are “old men” because they are difficult, and they do not immediately praise or recognize young men. In fact, I got the impression that they looked down on us just because we were young. It was difficult to achieve results overnight, and there was a sense that one would have to achieve high results over a certain period of time to become a full-fledged professional. To me, the world seemed to be an extremely harsh place.

　However, for the young women, I had the impression that the old men were “sitting ducks. They could be instantly liked by the older men, and they could take them into their bosom. I think there were some who were able to tame the old men and achieve success at a young age. I was jealous of those women. I had found success in making a profit, and I was sometimes biting my back teeth, thinking that one day I would be successful. In that sense, I think the society of those days was a male-dominated society. If such a thing were to happen today, it would immediately become a major scandal.

　Times have changed. Nowadays, old men do everything they can to keep new employees from quitting the company. They create a sense of value for money by offering better benefits, not forcing them to relocate, increasing holidays, and so on. It seems that securing talented young workers is an important issue for companies.
　Unlike me, there may be young people who are retained because of their excellence, but even so, I have the impression that the positions of old men and young people have been reversed. The irony of young people working hard to be recognized by their old men, and then having to care about young people when they finally become old men, reminds me of the sadness of young girls who spent their high school years in the middle of the women’s college student boom. I still don’t want to go back to the days when I was confused by the times and wandered around aimlessly, unable to decide where to place my axe to grind in order to live my life in my own way.

　Eh~~!, lie~~~ (The beginning of the song in the TV program)