In Japan Crash, Time Obsession May Be Culprit.
Anywhere else in the world, a train running 90 seconds late would perhaps be considered on time. But in Japan, 90 seconds would foil commuters who depend on trains' connecting to one another with balletic precision, often with only a couple of minutes to spare.
And so to make up for a lost 90 seconds, a 23-year-old train driver, it became increasingly clear on Tuesday, was speeding when his train jumped off the tracks on Monday morning at a curve here in western Japan and hurtled into a nine-story apartment building.
Holy Fucking Shit. A very smart Harvard friend of mine believes that I should be working full time on figuring out how to become Japanese or Mandarin because we are (Americans) about to bow down to them. Or at least.. in my lifetime.
That is very tragic and sort stupid, but I thought American's are very anal with punctuality? What really got me worried is, I thought Japanese technology surpasses that of the Western world. So, for a train IN JAPAN to jump off a track is almost unfathomable.
Is that recent pic of you? You look different with the buzzed cut. Still the cutest blogger ever though ;)
Posted by: Groove | April 28, 2005 at 08:47 AM