大学の脳科学科であったセミナー 1 に行って，セミナー後のソーシャル（軽食とビールが出る，セミナー参加者向けの懇親会）で同僚と話してたら，変わった風貌のご老人が近づいてきました．僕は日本人，同僚は中国人で，じいちゃんばあちゃんには敬意を払う文化圏で育ったからか，自分たちに話しかけてくるじいちゃんを無視して場を離れるようなことはできず，彼の蘊蓄に耳を傾けることになりました．正直なところ胡散臭かったのは否めませんが，曰く，
「今は95歳で，69歳で引退した後は趣味でサイエンスのセミナーに来るんだけど，昔は弁護士やってたよ．あ，君は日本人なんだね．昔は東大で２回くらい講演したことあるね．東大法学部の歴史上初の女性教授と仲良しで，彼女がハーバード・ロースクールに留学してたときはホストにもなったなあ．」
みたいな，最近の日本の本屋に並んでる自己啓発本のタイトルを並べたようなストーリーを披露されました．結構ふっかけてくるじいちゃんだなあーと思いながらも，
「その女性教授は何て名前？」
と聞いてみたところ，
「むにゃむにゃヨシコ」
と返ってくるのです．ここで日本人ぽい名前を出すあたり，日本に親友がいると主張していたキューバ人の詐欺師がフラッシュバックしたのですが，まあこのじいちゃんの話が事実かどうかはどうでも良いのかもしれません．自称95歳のじいちゃんは相当受け答えがはっきりしているし，僕は洋の東西を問わずじいちゃんの蘊蓄が好きなので，食事をしながら頷きながら話を聞いていたのでした．サイエンスに本当に興味を持って，色んなセミナーに参加しているのは本当のようで，
「またじゃあ次回のセミナーで」
と，別れてきました．
同僚と東大法学部初の女性教授「むにゃむにゃヨシコ」さんの存在可能性について議論しながらラボに帰ってきたのですが，「むにゃむにゃヨシコ」さん，なんと見つかりました．ハーバード・ロースクールにも留学しているし，東大法学部史上初の女性教授と言うことです．じいちゃん疑ってすいませんでした．笑
じいちゃんがハイプロファイルの日本の方と知り合いとか，ハーバード・ロースクールとかは日本の出版社や週刊ダイヤモンドとかに任せておくとして，95歳のじいちゃんの言うことを信じてストーリーを再構築すると「自分のキャリアとしてずっとやっていたことがあった．でも69歳で引退してから，興味があったサイエンスについて知りたいと思った．それ以来，近辺の大学や研究所のメーリングリストに登録してセミナー情報を集め，専門的なセミナーに結構な頻度で参加して学んでいる」ということになります．もちろん弁護士だったときの蓄えがあるからこそなせる技かもしれませんが，引退後に全く知らないことを学びはじめるとは，何とも面白い余生の過ごし方だと思います．
最初話半分で聞いてたくせに手のひらを返すようで恐縮ですが，僕がじいちゃんばあちゃんの蘊蓄が好きなのは（これはまあ誇張じゃなくて昔からずっとそうなんですが），長い目で物事を見られるようになるからです． 2 30歳そこそこの人事が，20歳そこそこの学生に対して「５年後のビジョンは？」と詰問して溜飲を下げるのが最近の就活の一幕らしいですが，人生はもっと長いでしょう．我々世代も若者もそんなことで人生磨り減らさないで，もっともっと長い目で人生をデザインして，不確定性を楽しみながら，気楽に生きられれば良いですね．なんて，自戒と自省も込めまして．
じいちゃんまた会いましょう．
Notes:
- Prof. Zhang Feng のセミナー．分野違いでも，これだけの rising star を目の当たりにすると，自信なくすにはピッタリです．笑 ↩
- 例えば，５年前に書いたブログ．www.michinao.com/blog/2007-12/208 ↩
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