In the beginning of 2000, when I lived in
OSAKA, I had a strange experience.
In those days I didn’t have a washing machine.
So I used to go a coin-operated laundry shop by bicycle every weekend.
The first police questioning was in front of
the laundry shop. That was ordinary police questioning.
A few weeks later the same policeman
questioned me again at the same location. I was sure he was the same person but
he seemed to have forgotten me. He questioned me as if I was a new person. I
started to feel funny. I waited until remembered me as I answered the
questions. Finally he said:
“Have we met
before?”
I answered:
“Finally you have
remembered!”
He started to be
friendly to me. Then I asked him a question.
“You have questioned
me twice. I guess you thought I was a suspicious person. Could you tell me
about me made you so suspicious? If I seem suspicious, I want to change.”
I know I am not good looking guy but I believe
I create a first impression of being a good person. Some people tend to doubt
my intelligence but rarely doubt my good personality at the first meeting. So I
was shocked to have been suspected by the policeman. He said:
“No, no, no, no. I
didn’t mean that. Just your bicycle is…”
That was the point. In those days, I was not
well off. I didn’t have enough money to buy a new bicycle. So I bought a
secondhand bicycle. I bought the cheapest bicycle in the shop. The color of the
bicycle happened to be pink.
“Considering your
age and gender, it is hard to think you chose a pink bicycle in a shop. I
suspected you had stolen the bicycle.”
He didn’t suspect
me because of my facial features, so he couldn’t remember my face. He was just
trying to catch a bicycle thief.
Hey! Mr. Policeman! You should look for a more
serious crime!
