Japanese live in a culture of responsibility and pride

Ann and her sister, Gloria, got back from Tokyo this week. Regular readers already know our daughter recently became a new mother. I'm happy to report she and baby Andrew are doing excellently.

The child is beautiful and has apparently inherited both Sundae's looks - and temper. Poor Shingo.

Needless to say, it was an interesting trip. Japan is a bunch of miles from Onslow County. It's even farther culturally. The two overriding impressions they returned with were age and cleanliness.

Once away from the towering skyscrapers of downtown Tokyo, buildings and streets are ancient by our standards but amazingly clean and litter free - by anybody's standards. No, the country isn't populated by janitors. The people there live in a culture of personal responsibility and pride.

Ann remarked it seemed strange unattended children were allowed to ride bicycles anywhere and everywhere, often after dark. It surprised her until she realized things were exactly like that here back when we were growing up.

Certainly America remains the very best country on the planet, but it's quite obvious our society has become alarmingly coarse. We pride ourselves upon having a culture of tolerance, which is a very good thing - except when you begin tolerating bad things. And we have.

Regretfully, there's no reversal of this trend to be found. No longer is equality of opportunity in vogue. People are now chanting for equality of outcomes, demanding government re-allocate resources fairly.

What seems so unfair to dinosaurs like me is that nobody is held responsible for themselves. We tolerate millions who break our laws in the overused name of "compassion."

We tolerate ineffective schools. We tolerate functionally illiterate kids being handed diplomas that mean little except perhaps they could stay within the lines when they colored.

Politicians are to blame to a great degree by aggressively cultivating class warfare. They feed upon social and racial strife and fertilize it every chance they get. Vote for me and I'll take you away from those terrible people who work hard and accumulate wealth, and I'll give that wealth to you.

I'll protect our schools. After all, we can't have anybody failing, can we?

The good news is the pendulum will swing back eventually. It has to. Our system of government has been the most effective in human history for providing for its citizens, and that success isn't accidental.

It's with this current frame of reference that Ann found Tokyo so refreshing.

Courtesy and pride were everywhere. Even something as mundane and ordinary as taxis were immaculate. Cab seats are covered with white slipcovers, cleaned and refreshed after each fare. Drivers wear suits and gloves. It was definitely different.

Speaking of different, Ann's gastronomical boundaries widened considerably. She actually ate real sushi, best described by our term, bait. She said she liked it but wouldn't want it every year.

Shingo cooked a bunch of exotic dishes. Some of them contained things that could only be guessed at, so at those times ignorance served a good purpose. There are some things best left unknown, and delicious is delicious in any language.

She brought back an entire suitcase of foodstuffs to cook, from tempura mixes to dried mushrooms. There are also spices with Japanese labels. I guess we'll just have to explore new territory.

Speaking of going where this Gardner has never gone before, we now have a package of shark fin soup that I assume will be on the menu soon.

Ann said it was delicious. I'll be the judge of that. It can't be any worse than Romulan stew they served on Starship Enterprise. Phasers on!

By far, her favorite discovery was plum wine. She raved about it as she put two containers in our refrigerator. Last evening, I tried some over crushed ice and truly confirm that it's absolutely wonderful.

Sundae and Shingo are coming here in July. I know they'll put on a full-court press to get me to say when I'll head over there. Oh my, I surely don't look forward to the interminable flight but doubt they'll let it lay until I commit.

December is relatively slow at my offices. Perhaps the year-end would be a good time. With my parents dead along with my aunts and uncles, I really don't have much jingle left in my bells.

I wouldn't have a bit of trouble fitting my remaining Christmas spirit into a suitcase. "Oh little town of Tokyo ... ."

Otis Gardner's column appears here each Wednesday.