社長：今夜、会議の後のニ次会も出てもらえない？
秘書：それは仕事でしょうか。仕事でなければ失礼いたします。
社長：まあ、それほど肩肘をはらないで、たまには私たちにも付き合ってくださいよ。
Katahiji wo haru
Shachoo: konya, kaigi no ato no nijikai mo dete moraenai?
Hisho: Sore wa shigoto deshoo ka. Shigoto de nakereba shitsurei itashimasu.
Shachoo: Maa, sore hodo katahiji wo haranaide, tama ni wa watashitachi ni mo tsukiatte kudasaiyo.
Boss: Are you coming for a drink after the meeting this evening?
Secretary: Is that part of my job? If not, I'm going home.
Boss: Oh, come on. lighten up. You should come out with us sometimes.
Katahiji wo haru means being stiff, rigid, or inflexible, stubborn or unyielding.
In Japanese companies, employees often work overtime. This would be understandable if they were staying at work because there was actually work that needed to be finished, but there are often cases where people end up staying simply because they find it difficult to leave the office while others are still working there.
One of my ex-students (let us call her K), is currently working as secretary for the director of a small company. The director, who also happens to be an acquaintance of mine, told me, "K works hard for me, but Chotto katahiji wo haru tokoroga aritnasu ne (She's a little up-tight). Ours isn't a big company, so I expect my secretary to fill a variety of roles,"
When I told K what the director said, she told me, Betsu ni katahiji hatte iru tsumori wa arimasen (I'm not deliberately being inflexible). It's just that I don't understand where the limits of my job lie. I mean, do you think going to parties with my boss just so that I can pour drinks for his guests should be part of my job? If it is," she said, "I'm quitting."
After hearing both sides of the argument, I felt like I understood the problem. There was a big difference between what K's boss saw as her job and what she felt counted as her own responsibility.
When her boss said that Kanojo wa itsumo katahiji wo hatte ite, settai wo shigoto to kangaenai (She always refuses to accept that entertaining guests is part of her job), what he meant was that for him it went without saying that a company director's secretary should accompany him when he goes out and help him entertaining guests.
But, K felt that she was employed as a secretary to work in the office, and that anything beyond that was not her concern. When I told her Amari katahiji harazu ni, tokidoki tsukiatte agetara (Don't be too rigid. Go out with them sometimes,) she replied with a smile, "Yes, provided it's not to do with work." I hope the director will not lose such a good secretary.