USA. I went to a Texas BBQ restaurant.
The man at the counter asked: brisket or ribs?
I stood very still.
In my country, this question has another name.
It is called choosing a clan.
Brisket: slow. Patient. It has waited 14 hours for this moment.
Fourteen hours of smoke and silence.
This is the way of discipline. This is the way of my teachers.
Ribs: bold. Immediate. They arrive already holding their weapon.
They do not wait. They do not explain themselves.
This is the way of instinct. This is the way of warriors who do not return.
I asked the man which was better.
He said: "Depends on the person."
I stared at him for a long time.
This was not an answer.
This was a test.
Perhaps the most important test of my life.
I chose brisket. I sat down. I prepared myself.
The ribs arrived at the next table.
They smelled of smoke and oak and something I cannot name in any language.
The man eating them did not look at his food.
He looked at nothing.
He had already transcended.
I went back to the counter.
"I made an error," I said. "Ribs."
I sat down again.
The brisket at the next table glistened quietly.
Fourteen hours of patience. Fourteen hours of waiting.
Looking at me.
Not with anger. With something worse.
With understanding.
I went back.
"Brisket," I said. "I have returned."
The man at the counter said nothing.
He had seen this before.
Brisket. Ribs. Brisket. Ribs.
On my fourth approach, he placed both on the counter without speaking.
I understood then: there is no choosing.
There is only the truth of what you already are.
And what I am, apparently, is someone who cannot leave a BBQ restaurant.
I ate. I could not finish.
I sat with the remains for a very long time.
The other customers left. New customers arrived. I was still there.
The man came to my table at closing time.
"You doing okay?"
I told him I was conducting a funeral.
He nodded like this was a reasonable thing to say.
A ninja does not choose between brisket and ribs.
A ninja orders both and sits with the consequences until the restaurant closes.
Is this normal in Texas?
And which one was right?
I need to know. I am going back tomorrow.
@Kshi_nippon I think the language is part of the qualification. The signs are there for a reason, and if you don't know what that reason is because you can't read it then you are not qualified in that region.
USA. I went to a shooting range in Nevada.
The instructor pointed at a gun that was half the size of my torso and said, “This is the .44 Magnum.”
I did not understand what a Magnum was.
In Japan, Magnum means ice cream.
A delicious, chocolate-coated ice cream bar.
I assumed this was some kind of American dessert ritual.
I held it with both hands, the way you hold a very large, very important ice cream.
The instructor said, “Are you ready?”
I thought he was asking if I was ready to eat.
I said yes.
The gun went off.
My arms went back.
My body went back.
My soul briefly left the building to file a complaint.
I looked at the target. There was a hole the size of my ambitions.
The instructor was impressed. He said, “Nice shot.”
I said, “It does not taste like chocolate.”
He did not respond for a long time.
I have returned to Japan.
My wrists are fine.
But I think about that ice cream every day.
Is this normal? What flavor is the .357?
@tkr2000 I just finished watching this film and thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely in my top ten favorites. I am genuinely curious about what others think of it, and if anyone has any opinions of it from Japan.
@pixelprayer I have been to 49 of the 50 states in America, I have gone skydiving. Also when I was a kid I visited an archaeological dig, to which I was allowed in under supervision to brush some of the dirt. I actually not only got to discover a bone but was the first human to touch it.
To everyone overseas and to everyone in Japan, please listen.
I am way past anger; I am completely speechless now. 💢
Japanese people are giving up on having children due to the sheer economic struggle of daily life. So why on earth do we have to use our hard-earned tax money to provide full-service, red-carpet support for foreign pregnant women, and even hand over 500,000 yen?! 💢
What they are doing is 180 degrees backward. This isn't a countermeasure for the declining birthrate—this is literally "selling out the country." 💢
Quietly but surely, our nation is being broken.
Don't you want to leave a decent Japan for the next generation—a country where Japanese people who work desperately hard are actually rewarded?
To change this current reality, we need an overwhelming force of public opinion.
If you agree, please follow and share. Now is the time to raise our voices and take back Japan.
Honestly I think it's fine. Healthy even. Always having your skin covered in makeup can't be good for the skin and pores. Plus letting your natural beauty breathe in my opinion is nice too. People shouldn't feel like they need to always have a mask on whenever they go out. But hey that is just my opinion.