TOKYO — This story begins with a crime.
Under normal circumstances, there is no reason anyone would want to steal my bike. It’s a basic get-around-town model that cost $150. It was the biggest bicycle a Japanese department store carried and it’s still too small for me. The chain grinds on every rotation, although that may have to do with the fact that I leave it out in the rain and the bike is now covered in rust.
It has a bell but no night light as required by Japanese law — which, as you’ll see, is a misdemeanor that the Japanese police choose to enforce.
But the guy who stole my bike from outside a Tokyo train station one recent Saturday night wasn’t looking for anything flashy. He was drunk — it was payday and he had over-celebrated. He had slept well past his stop and was kicked off the last train of the night at the last station on the line. It was a crime of necessity: Steal the wheels or walk.
[Keep reading at Los Angeles Times]
OK… I feel safe in Napa… crime is decently low for the Bay Area. But I can’t imagine feeling that safe I’d leave a cell phone on a park bench and be able to return the next day and find it still there. And this story about the guys bike is hilarious. Read it, enjoy it… and wish your city was that crime free.
Tags: Crime, Humor, Interesting, Stories
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