More Murakami

I loved this section from Murakami's story "Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey" in his collection First Person Singular:

"Thank you," I said. "It felt good. So, do you work here at this Inn?

"I do. They've been kind enough to let me work here. The larger, more upscale inns wouldn't ever hire a monkey. But they're always shorthanded around here, and if you can make yourself useful, they don't care whether you're a monkey or whatever. Being a monkey, the pay is minimal, and they only let me work where I mostly stay out of sight. Straightening up the bath, cleaning, things of this sort. Since most guests would be shocked if a monkey served them tea and so on. Working in the kitchen's out, too since you'd run into issues with the Food Sanitation Law."

"Have you worked here a long time?" I asked.

"It's been about three years" (p. 137).