PSPINC CEO Kenichi Uchikura's Blog

We All Work to Pay for the Bread

 

Today’s wallpaper is a picture of freshly cut French bread—simple, humble, and beautiful. I turned it into art because, in many ways, bread represents the everyday life we all work for.

 

Everyone works to pay for the bread. Not just literally, but for everything that sustains our daily lives. Yet sometimes, the system we live in makes even the basics feel complicated.

 

What I Don’t Understand About America
There are many things I like about living in America—but there are also a few things I still don’t understand, even after many years.

 

Coming from Japan, one of the most confusing customs to me is tipping. I understand that service workers, especially in the restaurant industry, are underpaid and rely on tips to make a living. But isn’t that a flaw in the system itself?

 

Tips should be optional—a reward for exceptional service. But here in the U.S., it often feels forced. You pay your bill, and then you're prompted to select a tip—15%, 18%, 20%, or more. Refusing to tip feels like an act of rebellion, even when the service was just average. There's a social pressure that turns tipping into a requirement rather than a choice.

 

Why Not Include Sales Tax?
Another thing I find odd is the way sales tax is added after the fact. Why don’t we just include it in the listed price? It’s not like we get to choose whether we pay it or not.

 

In Japan, the price you see is the price you pay. No surprises. It’s clear, simple, and respectful to the customer. If we're going to pay tax anyway, why not make it transparent?

 

Also, are government employees or public institutions exempt from paying sales tax? Do we deduct taxes when serving them? Probably not. So why this added layer of confusion?

 

Taxes, Tolls, and Public Services
Then there’s the issue of paying for things we’ve already paid for. In Washington State, for example, we funded the construction of freeway with tax dollars—and now we’re being charged tolls to use it.

 

The justification is always the same: “We need the revenue.” But if you were a private business, and you were running out of money, what would you do? You'd cut spending. You’d find efficiencies.

 

Governments should be held to the same standard. Taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to pay over and over for the same thing.

 

In the end, we all work to pay for the bread. But maybe we could make the system a little simpler, a little fairer—and let people enjoy that bread without all the extra crumbs of confusion.

In many instances, business is often symbolized by a road cutting through the wilderness—a clear path amidst uncertainty. It suggests direction, stability, and purpose. But the reality is, if you’re walking on an established road or well-worn path, you’re not doing anything particularly new or groundbreaking. You're following in the footsteps of those who came before you.

 

True innovation doesn’t happen on the road. It happens when you step off of it—when you venture into the unknown, into the unmarked terrain where no path yet exists. If you're the first one, if you're creating something original, you're not following a trail—you’re forging one. You're walking where there is no path, relying not on road signs but on vision, intuition, and courage.

 

That’s what makes entrepreneurship both terrifying and exciting. Success doesn’t come from merely staying on course—it comes from creating your own.

 

https://en.bloguru.com/ken/535207/stay-the-course-what