I Must remember this...

(No, this has nothing to do with kisses :D)

I went for my weekly night with "the Boys" at the local Ramen shop (run by a really nice fellow who has been running this litteral hole-in-the-wall for nearly 20 years now) last night.

My neighbor and fellow teacher from Britian is leaving at the end of the week and returning home, so I figured, naturally, that everyone and their uncle that this rather charming, kind person has met (And there are quite a few folks we are talking about here) would be there. This place is pretty small, and I thought that it would definitely fill up quickly... I figured if I brought my own car I could leave early if I needed to.

Anyway, I drop in before anyone else, but the shop master is there and there are two other guys at the bar as well (Ramen shops have bars and, well, in the case of this one, one table... but the table is Japanese-style, which means you sit cross legged or seiza... not for me) I sit down and immediately after the guys at the bar realize I can speak Japanese, they are suddenly friendly and chatting with me and everything. We are having a grand old time talking about all kinds of things.

Then the boys show up (At which time the fellows chat with them too). I relay the story to my British friend and he tells me the following story:

"I was down in Yokohama this past Christmas, and I had dropped into a bar. There were two Gaijin sitting at the bar across from me and they were talking about reading in the newspaper about the murder that had occured in MyTown. Naturally, since I'm from MyTown, I perked up as I live in MyTown, so I said, 'Excuse me, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you are talking about the murder in MyTown, I happen to be from MyTown...' To which I stopped talking because they both were looking at me with a definite look of mistrust and suspicion. I kept thinking 'Mate, I'm not going to ask you to buy me a drink, I don't want any money, I just wanted to talk.' And then it hit me; what a sad state of affairs the US and UK are in; no matter what, if a perfect stranger walks up to you, you naturally assume he wants something from you."

I realized as two rather attractive young women entered the ramen shop, that even the women in Japan are friendly and unassuming.

In America, if you walked up to a random woman and said "Hi, I just want to chat for a second." they'd spray you with mace.

I'm not sure what that says about our respective societies, but I think the first thing it says is that people in the US (Canada) and the UK are becoming so self centered that the only time we approach other people is when we want something from them. It's pretty much a lost cause in the cities, but it's even spreading to the countryside where people used to be really friendly.

Which leads me to the next logical conclusion; when I get home, I'm going to go on a mission. My mission will be to talk to one random person every month (In the beginning, later I'll do it as often as I can), and just chat with them. Learn something new. And ask only one thing in return; that they pass it on (Should they feel so inclined).

So, who is with me? Pick a random person and go up to them and talk to them for just a minute or two, tell them the truth; you think we as a nation have forgotten to be friendly and you want nothing from them but a moment of friendly chat, and maybe if they feel like it, they can pass it along. Tell them you are not representing a political candidate, or a religion (If you are religious, you have to leave that at the door, sorry... unfortunately, Christian hardliners are among those whom "Always want something" and are contributing to the problem here) you don't want money, or a drink (I'd recommend turning one down should you be offered, it sabotoges the cause). Ask them about their life, do they have kids? a family? Where are they from? Do they have an interesting story to tell? Then, thank them for their time, give them a friendly smile, and walk away, knowing you took one step toward making our countries friendly and safe again.

:)

-Me