Harrased by Old Man on the Train
This old man (pictured) gave me quite a lot of grief on the train tonight.
When he walked through the carriage, singing and drunk, I figured that this guy would prove entertaining. I didn't realize that he would drag me in as part of the show.
I was sitting down, reading a book when he came up to me and grabbed my right arm with both hands quite strongly. Immediately I shook him off and shouted "stop that" at him. He grabbed at me a couple more times and I pushed him away. It was clear that he was drunk and wanted to interact with this Gaijin. I wasn't going to let him push me out of my seat or make me run away.
After I push him away from me, the Train Guard comes out to see what the commotion was about. I asked the other passengers to explain this for me, one guy (yeah, one of about 30 people) spoke up for me and then the Train Guard attempts to get him to sit somewhere else and leave me alone.
This drunk old man doesn't and proceeds to get angry and shouting questions at me, of course I couldn't understand and told him so but this seemed to make him angrier.
This continues to the next station where the Station Staff are called to help convince him to get off the train and make a different way home. Of course this takes about 4-5 minutes and delays everyone. Another guy helps to keep him off the train.
Eventually he apologizes to everyone (not me) and leaves the platform, then the train departs. A couple of stops later, a little shaken, I make my way home to meet my wife and son waiting at the front door of the apartment building for me. My wife was really shocked to hear my story.
Maybe I could have just walked away, but I wasn't going to let an old man push me around, but I wasn't going to hurt him either. I'm not going to think badly of this event as it could have happened anywhere. I can't say that when I get really drunk that I am an angel, but I've never given anyone else grief like this.
Wrong time, wrong place. At least I didn't make the situation worse by hurting him.
BTW, the SO903i takes really crappy photo's if you don't have time to focus.
9 comments:
That's quite a story. Ah, I miss Tokyo sometimes.
By the way, what's your Japanese level? And did you change the layout or am I seeing things?
Hi Thomas.
My Japanese level is basic. Very basic.
And yes, I changed the layout. I found that the 3 column template wasn't working properly in IE. (I mentioned it on the blog about this blog)
wow. nobody help to calm the guy except the staff? If I was in your shoe, I would've stand my ground too instead of letting him push me around. He's the menace.
Hi Lina
Thanks for the support.
There was one guy who helped to try and take him off the train, I think he told the old man that he was making a fool of himself.
Later that guy asked me if I was okay. So that gave me some hope for my fellow human beings.
You did well to get out of the situation. Never use violence against locals in Japan unless your personal safety is at risk. As a foreigner here you will always be presumed the guilty party first. The detention laws in Japan are draconian. Although this old guy was a pain, alcohol will blur the situation and you'll never get to the truth if you injure him. Have you read this?
www.stippy.com/japan-life/gaijin-in-a-japanese-prison-1/
When it comes to those who aren't part of the majority, japan can be a highly discriminatory place.
So I was well aware of how things could be taken. Upon reflection from last night, I felt that I couldn't have done anything better.
But I could have done much worse.
He probably just wanted to get your fingerprint. ;)
Yeah, 29/30 people not helping is no news to me. I was sexually harassed by a similar guy in my second year. Had my arms LICKED twice and then racial slurs thrown at me when I turned him down. Ah, good ol' Saitama.
Of course everyone in the carriage ignored what was happening. Well a few covered their mouths and started giggling. ;)
I'm sorry but after the first 10 minutes of taunting, trying to calm him down and calling the train staff, if he didn't stop I prolly would have drop kicked that drunken fool.
Brad, I'm not surprised. There is a very large "do not get involved" mentality here.
Jamaipanese, I wanted to. I really really wanted to. But I don't like the idea of getting involved with the police, 23 days hanging out while they investigate - no thanks.
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