Nothing seems to phase us, Gaijins, as we skillfully skip past that seventh pool of vomit; not that mass of people racing towards us like world-class athletes nor the high-pitched ringing of that bicycle trying to weave its way through the crowd. No, today we are invincible, we are Gaijin gods strolling through Tokyo.
Invincible, that is, until we spot something horrific bobbing towards us on the horizon. A sight that leaves every one of us completely void of all rational thinking; a sight that is quite simply another Gaijin!
As the problem strides ever closer, etiquette tells us that we must avoid eye contact at all costs, so we proceed with zombie-like senses, eyes transfixed far ahead in the distance puzzling over what it is that overcomes us when we pass another Gaijin in the street. Is it envy, is it fear, is it lust or is it simply just a basic loss of vision? Whatever it is, it is clear that we are all somehow trained to ignore each other with spectacular precision.
Now this ritual, although occurring almost instantly, is by no means immediate. Upon arrival we are foolishly generous with our greetings – a nod of the head here, a slight gesture with the hand there – small common courtesies that in addition to going outrageously unnoticed, fully expose the exact number of days and weeks since our arrival.
It seems existing ideology says we shouldn’t squander our “hellos” on people we don’t know after all we don’t do this at home. The problem with this school of thought is the huge amount of effort it takes to convince that passer-by that we didn’t actually see them. I mean of course we saw them. Why wouldn’t we? But still we work painfully hard fixating on the most boring things, until the victim has passed.
The bitter fact is that the road to invisibility is treacherous, but it is a path we tread with relative ease. We accept invisibility as second nature, and why do we do this? Because we are Gaikokujins (aliens) and that’s what Gaigokujins do!
Invincible, that is, until we spot something horrific bobbing towards us on the horizon. A sight that leaves every one of us completely void of all rational thinking; a sight that is quite simply another Gaijin!
As the problem strides ever closer, etiquette tells us that we must avoid eye contact at all costs, so we proceed with zombie-like senses, eyes transfixed far ahead in the distance puzzling over what it is that overcomes us when we pass another Gaijin in the street. Is it envy, is it fear, is it lust or is it simply just a basic loss of vision? Whatever it is, it is clear that we are all somehow trained to ignore each other with spectacular precision.
Now this ritual, although occurring almost instantly, is by no means immediate. Upon arrival we are foolishly generous with our greetings – a nod of the head here, a slight gesture with the hand there – small common courtesies that in addition to going outrageously unnoticed, fully expose the exact number of days and weeks since our arrival.
It seems existing ideology says we shouldn’t squander our “hellos” on people we don’t know after all we don’t do this at home. The problem with this school of thought is the huge amount of effort it takes to convince that passer-by that we didn’t actually see them. I mean of course we saw them. Why wouldn’t we? But still we work painfully hard fixating on the most boring things, until the victim has passed.
The bitter fact is that the road to invisibility is treacherous, but it is a path we tread with relative ease. We accept invisibility as second nature, and why do we do this? Because we are Gaikokujins (aliens) and that’s what Gaigokujins do!
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