妻：彼女も、OL姿が板につきましたね。
夫：そうだね。入社して、もう3年になるからね。
Ita ni Tsuku
Tsuma: Kanojo mo, OL sugata ga ita ni tsukimashita ne.
Otto: Soo dane. Nyuusha shite, moo san nen ni naru kara ne.
Wife: Dressing like an OL (a female office worker) really comes naturally to her now.
Husband: You're right. It's already been three years since she started working.
* * *
Ita ni tsuku means one's attitude or behavior has become at home in a certain environment. The origin of the phrase is quite interesting. The ita refers to the floor of a stage/An actor just beginning his or her career will be unsure of how to walk on stage and almost float above the floor. Once they learn the proper steps however their feet "stick to the floor" (ita ni tsuku).
Let's think about the girl being talked about in the conversation. When you hear the word "OL" what images do you conjure up? Agirl making copies? Typing away at a word processor? A girl doing odds and ends? A girl not involved in specialized work? Waapuro wo utsu sugata mo ita ni tsuite kimashita (She is thoroughly at home using a word processor). Detiwa no otai ga ita ni tsuite kimashita (She is quite at home answering the telephone)
In fact, more and more women are working at specialized jobs (senmon shoku). Some work alongside men, others find themselves in positions actually higher than men. There's one catch in all this, however-it's called the Labor Standard Law and its infamous regulation originally aimed at "protecting women" (joshi hogo kitei). According to the regulation, women can only work 24 hours of overtime for every four week period, totaling no more than 150 hours a year. Working on a holiday is limited to one clay in every four weeks.
Keiko, a friend of mine, has finally learned how to do her specialized job. She's even become someone her company can't do without. She says some other employees often say things like, "Sutsu sugata ga ita ni tsuite kimashita ne (You look thoroughly at home dressed in that pantsuit)." "Shigoto wo shite iru kakkoo ga ita ni tsukimashita (The way you look when working comes naturally to you)." Unfortunately, if she stays after and works overtime at night along with the men, the boss will announce, "All the women must leave work at once and return home. If you stay late and work, we'll being breaking the labor law." "At first I thought he was joking. Was I wrong!? No matter how much more work than a man a woman might be able to do, she still has to take a break while working. It's so unfair." For women who really love their work, a law originally designed to protect them, is now preventing them from working freely and equally with men.
If society changes, its laws must as well. The Ministry of Labor must answer and respond to the questions and concerns of the citizenry. Unless it does so, itsu made tattemo, shigoto wo suru taido ga ita ni tsukanai (it will be forever before a positive attitude toward working comes naturally to [women] ).