From the events described, I certainly think that both parties were at least a bit to blame. Regardless, it doesn’t seem like George is a bad person – you can agree or disagree, but posting your rants of disgust and blame just makes you appear an extremely petty person.

Georges most pathetic, lowest statement in the whole thing is when he says he was going to go to the police and offer money because he felt bad! What a sad self delusion. I know because I have done something bad in Japan before, that the only fricking reason he went to the police in the morning is because as a gaijin, even in whatever suburb of Tokyo he was in, he would stand out like a sore thumb and he suspected there was a very very high chance, knowing the thoroughness of the Japanese police, that he was going to get caught, in which case it would be much worse. What a load of tripe to pretend he was doing anything other than trying to get out of jail free, as it were. Pure cynical strategy portrayed as an act of conscience… Nice try George.

I read the whole story, to the credit of the writer, because it was only his journals, and they were not particularly well strung together as he mentioned, but they still held my interest for a long time.

The thing is, I definitely did not come out of it thinking that I was on Georgès side at the end. Especially this last section where he tries to regain some face by saying his wife was allegedly told that the whole world was on his side. Oh what a happy ending! And his the fortune and livestock of Job were restored seven fold what they had been!

There are two many attempts to justify it, but this fact remains. It becomes clear that he took the guys phone and ran with it. Pure and simple, that is robbery and the action of a bully who thought he could use his phyisical size to his advantage in an altercation. How is that different from any schoolyard bully…

It just comes through that he kind of got what he deserved. The taxi driver had a broken rib and head injuries directly as a result of what this lumox did, and I tend to believe the taxi driver in a few things, like the damaged navi and such. You cannot make things physical, but big George was sick of punch perm guys, punch perming around and sucking their teeth, so he was going to teach the guy a lesson. Yes, I read the story closely. I have been injured by people on accident like everyone. I know that the word accident is a cop out. This story left me feeling the Japanese system is more just than I thought going into the story.

Monty is right. George seems to have turned everything around in his head. He became irate at the driver after he spoke to the driver “in perfect Japanese” (as he claimed at the beginning)… but he was so astoundingly drunk that he couldn’t remember basic details like if he ran or walked away. George, be a man.

As a side note… George is so cheap, stingy and greedy that even sitting in jail couldn’t help him. Even sitting in jail –sitting in jail!– he felt the need to talk down the lawyer’s figure for settlement! And after jail, he had to confirm with multiple people that it wasn’t too much. Of course, the whole saga began over money, too!

Something tells me that when he admits to “losing it” two times in his life, he’s lying. His anger issues are not limited to two events towards jerks who deserved it. He’s a lying liar.

George, you are better than the other prisoners. Right?

And why did you make the “jerk” taxi driver’s name public? Scum.

glad to hear you learned so much from your actions, i suspect that even though it took a toll, such an unusual experience must be kinda cool to look back on. (i know how hard it is to be locked up, but is freedom as sweet without that knowledge?)

What do you think George deserved for his ‘mistake?’ A nice hug and a ‘don’t do it again’ talking to? SMH

Richmond

The MAIN lesson here is that you don’t drink yourself into a stupor as you could end up in a holding cell for several weeks!! It’s not about the justice system of Japan. LOL

Having ‘been there’ one would think you, of all people, would have gotten ‘it’ because now you have two examples of what happens when you drink too much.