Mr. Watanabe, the Japanese business man in trouble
I am sitting in my truck preparing for the work day ahead when a tan sedan pulls up next to me. I have my headphones on and I see him trying to get my attention, speaking something I couldnt hear.
I remove my headphones and walk to the window of the japanese man dressed in tie and some pretty spiffy slacks, he was wearing one of those stereotypical japanese businessman glasses.
“Excuse me, do you speak japanese?” He asked with a heavy accent. I told him no. I figured the man wanted some directions. “I’m from Japan,” he said. “You speak english? sorry I don’t speak english very well but I need help. I already asked 3 americans but they said they couldnt help.” I agreed to help him and he gave me one of the longest and firmest handshakes I’ve ever been given as he thanked me.
Do I look that japanese? I thought to myself. The Japanese man was holding a map out in front of him and I was expecting him to ask me how to get somewhere. “Please don’t misunderstand me,” he said before his story. He began with something about him being at El Cajon and continued with saying something about going to the 5 north up to San Francisco. OK, I said, maybe he needs to get to san francisco.
“I made a mistake,” he continued. “I put my briefcase down and forgot about but. When I came back to get it, somebody picked it up!” He stammered. That’s when I saw that the dude was in it deep. He explained to me a story in broken, yet still fairly understandable english. Something about him calling his brother for help and something about him not knowing when they’ll be coming. “So I thought it would be best for me to drive all the way up to San Francisco,” he told me. “This is not my car, this is a rental from the Airport” he said. “Now here’s my problem. I have no gas!”
So the man needed help to buy gas, I assumed. Now I don’t normally see Japanese people frantically asking strangers for help, 4 random people no less so I knew that he was in trouble.
“What is your name?” he asked. “Please don’t misunderstand me, my family has money, I’m an engineer, I can send you money” he said. He handed me a pad of paper. “Write your name here, your address too, do you live around here?” His questions were flustered and I could hear that he was at the point of desperation. I told him that I worked at the grocery store behind us and that I was getting ready for work in ten minutes. “Please don’t misunderstand me,” he said one more time
So I look in my wallet and find that I only have five dollars. But the Japanese man would have none of it. He kept saying how his family had money and that money was not a problem so I agreed to go with him to the gas station in the shopping center to help him buy gas. When we pulled up to a pump, he said again “please don’t misunderstand me, Im going to be driving to San Francisco non stop, it’s my only choice,” he said. I will need about 2 tanks of gas and if you can help me, I will double what you need to give me. my family has money, money is not a problem” he said.
I sat there and opened the door. “tell you what,” I said. I pulled out my wallet and took out the hundred dollar bill that I saved for emergencies. “If you need 2 tanks of gas, I can give you this.” I handed him the money. It seemed to me like a pretty big emergency. “Thank you very much, please allow 3 to 4 days for my family to send you money! Im very grateful!” he said with another firm handshake. As I began to walk away, I turned around and screamed good luck.
