STOP!!

What a tell!!

I knew that this blog would be good for something!

So, here is the scoop, last night as I was returning home from a friendly dinner at a nearby family’s home, I was stopped -by the police!

Now this is certainly a first for me.

I have been to Japan only but a few times, however I did not know (to any level of certainty) that bicycles are essentially ‘vehicles’ -on par with cars (at least to some extent).

So as I was rounding the final corner and climbing the slope up towards my house last night and there was an idling police car at the intersection. Of course my part of town is so quiet at night that one can occasionally hear the thundering of a semi-truck plummeting by on the highway. That is about all the action we see!

But seeing this police-like car in the intersection I respectfully bowed my head and continued homeward. In the next moment the car was driving up beside me and I was asked to remain for questioning.

!Shock!

I have been told about the dire necessity of always having a foreigner registration card on hand, and tonight’s event proved just that. One ought always to keep proper identification on hand!

The police exited the vehicle and began to inquire about my bicycle. Apparently I was ‘operating my cycle’ without proper lighting, and they couldn’t find a cycle ID number. Albeit I had forgot to switch on the handlebar lamp at the front of the cycle. And this is a pardonable offense! (Along with riding with intoxicated, carrying two people on one bike, etc. This is all so new to me!) I mean in Canada we really only need to wear a helmet and know the rules of the road -and some people forgo the helemt in Canada altogether!

Anywho, the two officers were pertinent but polite enough pulled out flashlights, turned my bicycle up and down. I was held for about fifteen minutes altogether. They copied out information from my identification card, and took my name, address, and had me fill out a warning card from which they detached a small portion and handed to me.

After all this shock they said no, they didn’t need to contact my office, or anything of the sort. (Relief!) They thanked me, though I was feeling a little nervous, and they left. I switched on the lamp on my bike and ‘walked’ my bike the next twenty steps to my house. The police car drove slowly away.

This was the first time I have seen a patrol car in my town. Let alone the officers seemed to be from another township as when they inquired of me where I was from and where I was going; and when I arrived to Japan, etc., they knew very little about my local township, and such.

Well, chalk this one up for experience. I can now say that the stories that I have heard (at any rate) are true. As for myself, I will continue to keep my identification card on me at all times and lighting my bike lamp in the dark!

Oh, gosh. The learning curves never seem to cease. And you bet, all this shuffle and surprise for one evening certainly made a tall cup of joe, a little stronger than usual, a necessity the next morning. At least this all makes for a good story!

Until next crime,

Ciao!