Tonight I was running late for my dinner appointment with my friends. Seeing as I was the one organising the get-together, I was frantically leaving messages on people's voice mails as I travelled on the Toyoko line. "P, sorry I'm going to be a bit late, talk to you later." "V, I'm running late, meet me at Soho's . I've made reservations for seven at 8pm under my name"... etc.
Just as I got to only 4 out of 7 calls I needed to make, a middle aged man sitting next to me on the train started to reprimand me for using the phone on the train. "It's against the rules!! See, it says so on the posters. You have no manners. Shut up, you are inferior." he said.
Ok... You wanna fight this one out, my friend? Be my guest... I am used to bigots like you. Sock it to me! Gaaarn, make my day!!!
I turned towards him, and with a calm smile on my face said: Excuse me, don't you think that U are the one who is going against "manners" and "etiquette" by demanding that I should not leave four, 20second messagages discreetly on my friends's answering machine? I was speaking into my hand to try and keep it quiet as much as possible. I think that --U--owe me an appology for your rudeness. (smile)
By this time the guy was furious and pointing to the various stickers on the carriage saying:"please refrain from using your mobile phone"...
Yeah. Yeah. But if you notice, sir, it says "Please refrain", not you will be fined if you speak for 80 seconds in total. I do not have to follow big brother's messages, I am free to do what I want. I did it discreetly so as to not offend people, so I don't know Y U R griefing me. Oh, and by the way, did you know that U and I have been discussing my phone habits LOUDLY now for nearly double that time? (I pointed out to him.) You have begun this nonesense that is disturbing the other passangers. The other passangers by now were acting as if we didnt exist.
(cool! I'm invisible now!! I can do and say what I like!!)
His face was contorted and the only words that came from him were:"you're mad. fucking mad. I'm going to take a photo of you to take away your civil liberty.... have you banned from taking this line."
(right, you want to talk civil liberties, my friend, now we are in round two)
Fine, I said. (*grinning*) Take a picture of me. But do you know that under Japanese law that I can sue you for emotional damage that you have caused me for humiliating me in public? All I was doing was calling my friends and leaving brief messages, and now you make a mockery of me in public AND want to take photographic proof of my humility? I'll sue you under a civil court for emotional damages. Plus I have all rights to my images, either still or in motion. I will also bring this up in my case in court, for you are breaking copywrite laws that states that unless I give you permission to take my image, you have no right to view it, distribute it, or make a profit of my image. *I* own the royalties to my images.
By this time he's just lost it and is ranting about how I am crazy, fucking crazy. So I said, fine. Why don't you and I have a civilised conversation, coz I refuse to appologise to anyone -- especially you -- for using the phone.
So, what's your name by the way. I'm the drunken wench. I pulled out my left hand to make a handshake - he refused to take it. In some ways I'm glad he didn't coz I don't know where it's been....
By this time we were completely invisible to everyone on the train apart from one couple, an elderly Japanese gentleman and his petite, young philipino wife. The man stood up, came up to me, towered over me and told me to keep my voice down. Of course, thank you for being courteous. I will keep my voice down. Oh, is that your lovely wife? Where is she from? Philipines? Oh, that's nice, I hope you protect her from all this racial prejudice and keep her away from people who will judge her for being herself... Oh, you make a lovely couple (cough, cough... I bet she's a mail-order bride. I will write about those poor relationships in another blog, but for now we shall continue...)
He was not amused; I was!!
By this time my nemesis decided to go the the full round:"Without manners and etiquette, our society would degenerate to anarchy!!! It's people like you that disrupt our harmounious society!"
Check mate! He just cornered himself!!!!!
I took a moment, looked at him straight in his eyes and said:" What do you mean 'maintain our society from degeneration and anarchy'? We live in a world where 13year-olds sell their soiled underwear to old men like you, where legal age of sexual concent for a woman is 13, where travel agencies organise "sex tours" to places like Thailand so that men can have sex with 10 year olds, where comics classified as child pornography in any "normal" country is sold in 7/11s, where anyone caught taking exctacy (MDMA), acid (LSD), Shabu (methamphetamines) or any kind or recreational drugs are incacerated into a mental institution. Do you call the treatment of foreign residents like criminals, by fingerprinting them and making them carry their "gaijijin card" at all times, a civilised society? Have you read the papers recently, my friend? Or do you read at all? There was a 7 year old who was abducted, murdered, and dumped in a ditch. Her killer took a photo of her with her own mobile phone; one of those mobile phones with a camera attached -- just like yours -- and sent it to her mother before they found her body. There is nothing stable or harmonious about our society as far as I can see? And you are telling me that it's my duty to protect it?
Hello? Is there anyone in your cranium? If not, maybe I can just leave a message on your voice mail....
Japan has the biggest market of child pornography, only followed by Belgium. The Japanese government did not pass a law banning child prostitution and distribution of child pornography until 1999. Comics that graphically depict sexual acts with prepubescent women can be bought in any convinient store -- none of them are in plastic bags so anyone, even an innocent child, can view those disturbing images and be emotionally scarred...
“But I don't want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can't help that,” said the Cat.
“We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.”
“How do you know I'm mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat. “or you wouldn't have come here.”
“Oh, you can't help that,” said the Cat.
“We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.”
“How do you know I'm mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat. “or you wouldn't have come here.”
–Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Sorry dude, you and I live in a fucked up society. Don't even BOTHER to try and say that it isn't, coz I'll chew you up and spit you out!!
Actually, I kinda feel sorry for people like him who just can't think beyond "Big Brother's" propaganda. They just don't get it, do they...
"Maintaining a harmonious society"... Its all bollocks, if you ask me!
Actually, I kinda feel sorry for people like him who just can't think beyond "Big Brother's" propaganda. They just don't get it, do they...
"Maintaining a harmonious society"... Its all bollocks, if you ask me!
Bollocks indeed.
there.
2moro I shall blog about more important things in life.
2 comments:
This is some great work. You schooled the fuck out of the guys on the train. Helly yeah. I love that! I so do wish I knew people like you. Bottom line here is that you rock!
It is funny how people concentrate on certain things and just turn a blind eye to real problems with much worse consequences. You're a real observer of humanity and that's always awesome to expose those little double-standards that society plays on us. That was a great post.
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