The summer before my senior year in college, I participated in a studies program in Ibaraki, Japan. One member of our group proved to be especially entertaining. He had mapped out our entire trip, arranging the connections between airports, subways, and train stations. Unfortunately, he did not fare so well in navigating those terminals. Instinctively, he turned the wrong way out of each train or subway station. This being the case, his other directional challenges surprised none of us.
While most of us lived with different Japanese families, John stayed in a private apartment for the summer. One evening he went out for a late night snack. Upon his return, he noticed the figure of a man leaning over the table. Worse yet, this was the table upon which he had left a significant amount of the money for the next day’s trip allowance!
Mustering all of the courage he could, John convinced himself that he was probably bigger and stronger than the perpetrator. Of course we were in Japan, so he reasoned that the little man bent over the money on the table would likely be skilled in the martial arts. With no time to debate, John flung himself onto the patio and threw open the sliding door. Busting through the curtains and summoning the meanest face and most intimidating stance he could (given his acquired-by-birth Gilbert Godfreidesque face and build), he stared down the little man and bellowed out a mighty HAAAA!!
Then, a feeling of shock. A quick scan of the room jolted him. No money, none of his books, and none of his clothes. How could this be?
Oh.
He had invaded the wrong apartment! Immediately, he went into a compulsive act of bowing and uttering “Gomanasai! Gomanasai! Gomanasai!” He repeated these Japanese words for “I’m sorry” as he slowly backed through the curtains and sliding door and patio from whence he had come.
Worth Repeating
When you’re a booby, all of life is a booby trap.
–One of my accident prone friends
