"Thanks" to those who give a sense of community

This evening, I was jogging to the スーパー (supermarket). Apparently my little "change purse" fell out of the small pocket of my backpack which I had forgotten to zip up. I had no idea; I was listening to my MP3 player. I did, however, eventually notice somebody seemed to be running behind me, catching up. Very unusual around here. Scared me at first (night-time), but I realized it was a man in a suit, running after me to return the change purse.Now I don't mean to brag, but I'm not an occasional runner, and I don't go slow. Especially compared to the indoor-conditioned business men here in Tokyo. In other words, it really took some effort for this guy to catch up with me and follow me.Why do I mention it? Well, let me explain by telling about two other experiences I've had in Tokyo.One morning, I was riding my bike to school. The road was slick, making braking and stopping hard. I have a road bike, and I keep up with the slow traffic in Tokyo. When the traffic stops, I pass on the curb-side (just like the motorized bikes). Well, this time, traffic was stopped, but they "kindly" left an opening for a bus to cross the traffic into a parking lot. In this condition, there was no way I could stop. I locked the brakes, decked, and slid under the bus (not intentionally). I managed to scramble out of there. Nobody said anything, nobody did anything. Tokyo's a busy place. People are everywhere. It was notoriously silent.Another time, I was biking home from school. The traffic lights behind me had turned red, and the vehicles in front of me were long gone (faster road), so I was the only vehicle on the road. I was still riding close to the cars parked along the curb, as I try to keep "good form" just in case a car comes that I didn't see. Anyway, some guy swung his truck door open right in front of me, without looking. I had approximately 0.05 seconds to react--in other words, I basically didn't realize what was happening until it already happened. He caught my handlebars; I don't know how my hand didn't break, but it didn't. I went over the handlebars, jammed up my joints good, and tore up my hands nice. I pulled myself out of the road ASAP. This guy managed to give me a "大丈夫" (are you ok?) before walking away.In other words, I've come to feel that people around here really don't care about each other; I miss the sense of "community" or "good will." Not just these experiences, of course.I really appreciated what this guy did. Not because of the money in the change purse. Not because that was a recent birthday gift from my girlfriend. I appreciated it so much because he made me feel that I lived in a community.I know he can't read English and there's no way he's here, but I still want to express my greatest thanks.—{—bBB(thank you very much!)BenP.S. "ごめん" to those who don't have Japanese font capability.[edit: fixed a problem with a Japanese character]This message has been edited by Ben, Saturday, 2005/04/02 08:34 PM

I'm glad you're still here. The quietness might have been a result of caring (or just plain awe) as I imagine most people were expecting you to have need of an ambulance. again. Man...I'd be a pedestrian after that! My joints don't unjam as well as those of others, either.When in highschool, I once had $300 in my wallet. At some point in the day I realized that my wallet was not in my back pocket, I was mortified. During the last class of the day, a student aide came to my class and gave me my wallet. I quickly checked the contents...it was empty! I was glad to have my ID but upset at the loss of the $300.When I got home mom told me that I had left the wallet at home. She noticed the $300 and removed it. However, she did put $5 in it. She had been uncomfortable with the idea that the office personell would send the wallet to me via a student aide; she would prefer to have me come get it from her personally. Somebody took the $5 (probably the young lady who delivered the wallet to my classroom!), but I was happy anyways.It is nice when the honest person arrives on the scene though.BTW, I have ridden the bicycle on the road before...one person honked at me to get off...they need to read the road use rule book again.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah... I really had lost hope for this kind of thing in Tokyo. I'm not judging good or bad, just that it's not the situation I would prefer. So, the experience really lifted my spirits. Felt friggin' great. Haha yeah... Seattle was nice because of the abundancy of bike lanes and paved riding paths. I could cross Lake Washington and travel to the University of Washington following a "prescribed" bike route that was (relatively speaking) safe and quiet.Of course, here it's a different story. I weave on and off sidewalks, between cars, across lanes, around buses, etc. I learned quick that, even if I didn't weave, others would simply try to weave around me! I've gotten used to it by now, for sure. It's amazing so few accidents happen around here; there's so many people, and nobody checks a corner when coming around it, no matter on bike or foot. It's all about expectation, I guess. My cautious approach caused more problems than it avoided. "Going with the flow" turns out much better. Just took me a while to understand exactly what "the flow" was around here Thanks for sharing your story with me, and reading about mine. Take it easy.Ben

Growing up among the East Coast major cities I thought I was a pretty good bicycle rider. Until, that is, I visited Manhattan. LOLEven NYCity Cab Drivers live in fear of the Messenger on a Bike.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Hi, Ben. I used to ride my bike quite a bit and plan on resuming this good habit ASAP. Once, I was riding through a park when a car coming into the park turned onto the road in front of me without seeing me. I hit them and flew over the car. battered and bruised on the ground, I was just getting my bearings back (I was OK) and noticed that another car had stopped and the driver was busy chatting with another person which they apparantly knew and had just met.A nice man stopped and offered me and my battered bike a ride back to my house.I saw the best of people that day as well as the worst.

LOLBikes manufactured around here are "prissy girly" bikes. You can't go fast. Road bikes are unusual. Half of bikers around here are お祖母ちゃん (grandmas).

Nice. Right out of a movie.I've had my incidents in the past, often self-inflicted. Like the time I borrowed my brother's mountain bike (because mine was broken), and I noticed the magnetic spedometer was not working. One of the ones that has a magnet attached to the wheel, and a sensor close to the wheel counting the number of revolutions.Anyway it was attached to the front wheel, and I noticed while going downhill fast that the sensor wasn't picking up the signal. So I tried to push it closer with my foot.... when my foot went into the spokes, the spokes tore out (about 7) and the bike immediately flipped over (with me attached) and went down the hill on top of me.That was in my own neighborhood. I do miss the idea of a neighborhood. I guess, living too long in apartment buildings.Ben