at the helm of 復習
今度はJR東日本の男性運転士があぐらをかいた状態で電車を運転していた問題に対し、答えた運転士は「足がかゆかったから」とその理由を明らかにしました。
Cross-legged, shoeless train driver blames itchy feet
Sitting cross-legged with your shoes off on tatami mats is normal in Japan, but driving a train like that ... not the best idea.
“My feet were itchy,” was the driver's excuse after a passenger snapped him at the helm of a train heading from Chiba Prefecture to Tokyo.
His shoes had been slipped off and lay next to the foot pedal used to sound the horn, something he would not have been able to do while cross-legged.
An East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) official said the driver did not violate any company rules but was not showing the proper attitude on the job.
“It raised no immediate safety concerns as the horn could have been sounded if his legs were promptly lowered," the official said after the Aug. 17 incident recently came to light. "However, we have given strict orders to him as it was an action that made passengers nervous.”
The driver was snapped on a train that left Kimitsu Station in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, at 6:41 a.m. headed for Tokyo Station.
以下省略
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201609140060.html
今回取り上げる表現は “at the helm of” です。helmの項目を『ライトハウス英和辞典』（第5版 研究社）で調べてみますと、「at the helm （副、形）実権を握って（of）」という意味があることがわかりました。LDOCEには “guiding a ship or boat” とあり、船などの舵をとるという意味が載っておりました。船の行き先を決めるように、物事を決定し、進めるという意味で「実権を握る」とも用いられるようです。今回は電車を運転することを “at the helm of a train” で表しています。
この表現は過去にも取り上げられておりました。（aqua）
