"Japan is a Safe Country"

Panic moment from yesterday:

I've gotten really good about being healthy recently. I'm going to the gym three times a week, mostly to run but I'll do weight training every now and again as well. I'm really proud of myself.

When I check in at the Training Center's front desk the お爺さん ojiisan staff member (alright, the word actually means "old man" but in Japan it's actually a polite form of address) hands me a key for a locker in the changeroom. So I get dressed and go running for an hour and a bit and get a really bad cramp, and then I'm on my way back up the stairs to the changeroom when I realize that I don't have my key on me. So I sprint the rest of the way, the sound of my pounding heart clamouring in my ears, and there is my key, still in the door of my locker which isn't even closed all the way. And my cellphone is still there, and my wallet is still there, and all my books and my bag and my shoes and clothes are all still there. And this is an amazing thing.

I've heard that Japan is a very safe country, I think almost everybody has. One of my readings recently pointed out that when the comparison is made the touchstone is usually the United States, which is unfair - the truth is that Japan is a normal country, and the US is just terribly dangerous. But even so, Japan is safer than most European countries. When I thought about it afterwards I realized that if the same thing were to happen in Vancouver I wouldn't be terribly surprised either. The difference is that in Japan I was less surprised to see my stuff untrammeled.

Which, I mean, is cool.