In Tokyo, there's a cleaning crew that does the impossible every 12 minutes.
They're called TESSEI. They clean the Shinkansen bullet trains at Tokyo Station.
When a train arrives, it stops for 12 minutes before departing again.
Two minutes for passengers to exit.
Three more for the next batch to board.
That leaves seven.
In those seven minutes, one person must:
- Clean 100 seats
- Wipe every tray table
- Vacuum the floor
- Rotate every seat to face the new direction of travel
- Replace all headrest covers
- Check the overhead bins
- Bow to incoming passengers
Seven. Minutes.
They do this hundreds of times a day.
Harvard Business School published a case study about them.
The New York Times called it "the 7-minute miracle."
Tourists now stand on the platform just to watch.
Before they start, they bow to the train.
When they finish, they line up and bow to the passengers.
They're paid by the hour. Many are in their 50s and 60s.
Japan didn't invent cleaning.
They invented the dignity of doing small things perfectly.
a good friend will show you a Lord of the Rings film, a great friend will host an extended edition all-day marathon with breaks for second breakfast and elevensies and everyone cheering and clapping when Eowyn says โI am no manโ and Sam says โI can carry you!โ
the audiences for Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings are not the same, and if you defile Tolkienโs work by trying to make it something it isnโt, we will not watch it.
๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ญI have been told many times that the #SwatValley is the #Switzerland of #Pakistan. I wanted to see with my own eyes. Therefore I am doing my very first leisure trip there. I am not disappointed and sharing these moments with you.