RUN IN WITH THE LAW

So there I was on my bike, riding merrily along. I had come to a stop light so like I good citizen I stopped. Later, I was grateful that I had that because I noticed that there were two police coming in the opposite direction. Hey I wouldn’t want to get a ticket for "careless and reckless riding'(not that I know definitively that such a ticket exist but if dem can tow mi bike I don’ put nothing pass them.) I noticed too that they were staring a me but that was nothing new. People are always staring and though I don’t find it polite, I don’t find myself terribly annoyed by it either. The light changed and I started to ride again but now I notice that the police crossing the road and coming towards me – STRANGE!!! Now when a bike is in front of you can try swerve and continue on but when a police bike block you yuh know seh is stop yuh haffi stop. I had officially been pulled over by the cops. (LOL)

So the guys in blue hop off and I have no choice but to do the same. He asks if a speak Japanese. ‘No’, comes the swift reply and so my boy launches into an interrogation in fluent English. (Why I am not surprised?).

‘Where are you from?’ >>> ‘Where do you work?’ >>> ‘Is this your bike?’ >>> How much did you pay for it?”>>> ‘Where are the papers for the bike’ (Yes bicycles have papers but I didn’t have the papers for the bike.) >>> ‘Do you have your passport?’ Usually I don’t travel with my passport but I had it on me that day because I needed the visa page photocopied. I was glad I had it too because I done never have the papers for the bike.

So as Mr. English looks through the passport Mr. Silent gives the bike a thorough search. All bikes have a number on them so they start to radio the numbers back to the base. A bike had been stolen and mine fit the profile or was it my face that I fit the profile of a Thief ie. Non- Japanese.? Now I can’t even begin to explain to you how many black bicycles there are in Japan and how many black bikes passed as I was being interrogated.

Anyway I make them do what they have to do. I had to be somewhere at 5:15 and it was 5:08 so I just hoped that they did what they had to do quickly. They got a response from the base, this was not the stolen bike. I could have told them that from the beginning. Although the way dem did a check I start feel guilty although I know that the bike was perfectly legitimate. They thanked me (although I think I’m sorry would have been apt) and I rode off.