Band-aid (包帯)

I've been watching a Japanese show recently called Nobunaga Concerto that describes the life of one of Japan's finest samurai warriors, Oda Nobunaga. Not only does the show feature a scene where a futuristic stand-in for Nobunaga teaches people back in the day how to use a band-aid, (I know, a stretch of a lead-in), it made me realize the interest I have in history of all different cultures, how a people's historical cultures shape who he is. The theme of Nobunaga was that he was indecisive and reckless and would wait until the final moment, but when the ultimate battle came to prove his worth, Nobunaga was always up to the task. All humankind would be wise to heed that lesson, but it especially rings true I think in Japan, where there are parables including "3 years on a stone" (need 3 years of practice to become good), etc.

I grew up as a child with a lot of cuts and scrapes, so band-aids were often used, especially Fred Flinstones or X-men (or some other cartoon characters) type of band-aids, but as I grew older I didn't suffer many cuts anymore, and I also realized I heal very quickly; cuts seem to stitch themselves up without use of disinfectants or band-aids. Band-aids are also symbolic of a temporary solution to a long-term problem, that of being too clumsy to get into falls, etc., but less literally, trying to cover up a flaw but not fixing it permanently. That's always been acne and earwax for me: I've done what I can to stop the problem for now: clear the skin, extract the earwax, etc., but I haven't figured out the root cause: why my skin breaks out so easily, why my ears produce so much earwax, etc. A band-aid will not solve that, and in fact might prolong and worsen the problem by not giving it the proper attention it deserves.


My 2nd base/ shortstop position in fantasy baseball (tune out now!) is the epitome of a band-aid. Cursed with Dee Gordon's 80-game suspension a couple weeks ago, I now have a big gaping hole at 2nd base, and a slow start by Brandon Crawford compelled me to cut him prematurely and now the spots are being filled by a tandem of Chris Owings, Brock Holt, and Danny Santana. The definition of short-term solutions that won't be able to hold up over the course of a season. My desperate search for help in this area has so far come up fruitless, and it'll only be so long until these problems infect the whole team. At least I have Chris Sale. 7-0 with a 1.79 ERA and 0.77 WHIP.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan