When you cut like a knife, apologize in advance.

A friend of mine gave me a 6 pack of my favorite beer.
It wasn't my birthday.
It wasn't a holiday.
I did nothing special to warrant the receipt of a gift.

My ex-wife, at the time knew I loved Volkswagen beetles.
Old school, air-cooled, rear engines were my favorite.
A must for cool guys.

There was a military style, Baja bug I was eyeing. It had jacked up monster wheels. Completely illegal to drive on the streets of Japan. Whereas in America, the police officers would say, "there goes a bad ass dude!" 
She bought it for me. No special reason.

Just kidding! I bought it myself.

I told colleagues that because I didn't want to be questioned on why I bought another car since I already have two, and a Harley.
I guess I wanted to give people the image that my marriage was perfect.
It wasn't and it was my fault.
I was just an idiot who knew how to love, but not properly.

"But" I did buy her many things for no specific reason. It could be a plain old Tuesday. Like the Tuesday the week before.
It was flowers, clothes, or something she liked.
The final gift was flipping the bill for the divorce. The entire cost.
She took home everything. A dream divorce.
What ever I had, fit into my truck and I never looked back.

What I'm getting at is this. Westerners are givers.
hey give till their empty. 
Why?
You could be just a friend. You'll be gifted on your birthday, your children's birthdays, and even your marriage anniversary.

Then on a normal day, you get a knock at your front door. Your friend dropping by for no reason. Gives you a pair of new motorcycle gloves just because they saw them on sale and knew your old gloves were shredded from an accident. Talks for 5 minutes and leaves.

I was casually riding 140km, crashed, and survived.
I'm proof that God protect idiots.

Well maybe this western custom of thinking of others, family, friends, and acquaintances is an accepted troublesome way of life.
Every day saying the words "I love you" to your wife.
And if you missed a day, you say, "sorry babe, I forgot to tell you that I love you yesterday!" Follow it with a deep kiss, octopus hug, and sex.
Sex, sex, sex! A favorite past time!
What can I say? I'm a knife.

Cut and heal. Cut and heal.

I don't miss this way of life now.
I've learned that being Japanese doesn't mean that I don't care or love any less.
It just means that when I do get to demonstrate care or love, it is an explosion! It is deep! It is heartfelt.
Be it my family, a friend, or an acquaintance.

Westerners are that way. I apologize in advance for being too passionate.

Cut and heal!