Criminal
I am now a criminal, officially. I was caught speeding on my scooter on my way to the hardware store. However, this post is a positive one. I know, you’re thinking “you just said you got caught speeding, how is this positive?” Well, let me tell you. This is a case where I was most certainly in the wrong – I was speeding. In my defense, it was down a hill that I’m overly comfortable with – the slope of which would cause you to “speed” (go over 30 km/hr) by merely coasting downhill without applying any throttle. But, I failed to apply brakes too, which makes me a qualified speeder. I got a ticket, 2 points on my record, and a furikomi slip to pay my fine. Sigh. My fault, though, really. Sure, I was only speeding for a few seconds – but if those are the seconds during which they clock you, you’re a speeder. Ha ha.
So, now to the positive side of the post. I was pulled over and approached by a motorcycle officer. He explained the situation to me and started going through the paperwork. I was really anxious about it, since I’ve read all of the common horror stories about police in Japan dealing with foreigners. And because up until now I was a moving violations virgin. This was my first ticket ever – in America or Japan, in approximately 10 years of driving. I am happy to report that I was treated justly, courteously, professionally, and rightly by the officer who gave me my ticket. He made sure I understood what was happening, asked me to clarify some details for his paperwork, answered all of my questions about how this would impact my license and all. He made sure not only that his paperwork was all in line (and who can blame officers for wanting their butts covered, anyway), but also that I was taken care of in every sense of the word before he pulled off again. And he did all of this without condescending to me, or complimenting me on my Japanese. I was just another guy to him, which is what I want to be in the end, really.
In short: I did not feel discriminated against in the least. Don’t believe all the horror stories you read. The jerks get the spotlight too much of the time. And there are people out there like Officer Shimizu of my local police department. I’m ashamed and sad that I got a ticket, as well as that I’ll have to fork over nearly a hundred bucks to cover it, but my faith in Japanese people got a reality check again. And it was mightily refreshing.
