If Only Not One Drop

New Acquaintance  

We decided to have a beer at Okinawa Brewing Company in American Village, an outdoor mall about 2 1/2 miles away. Since the alcohol rule in Japan is “not one drop”, if we drove over, and Mary had a beer, we would have to leave the car and walk home. Seemed like a plan. Until the rain started. It wasn’t supposed to last long, so we had another round while Bella played with Tony, a corpsman who plans to attend med school after his tour is done.

The Japanese are so strict with their no drinking and driving policy, and they are equally strict about no handheld screens while driving. BUT, it is okay to watch TV shows or movies while driving as long as the phone or tablet is in a holder. On Kumejima the hotel worker was watching a game show as she drove us to the weaving co-op.

I checked to see if it were the game show Grant’s coworker Brett was on a few years ago. Each week two teams competed in a crazy task like running through a slime -filled obstacle course. The winning team got a prize, and the loosing team got a chore to complete and lost a member. I thought the chores, like making chopsticks from bamboo they cut, harvesting kelp for seaweed dishes, or raking a Zen garden under a monk’s guidance, were a lot more interesting than the prizes, especially after the prize was dinner at a high priced restaurant that used monkeys as waitstaff. I don’t like monkeys on a good day; I certainly don’t want one bringing me my dinner.

Week after week Brett was on the winning team. We were thrilled for him, but oh my goodness, those shows were painful to watch. Each week I secretly rooted for him to lose. Sadly, he made it to the finals but didn’t win, which meant we had to watch the entire season.

Back to walking home. Of course the rain started up again when we were about half way home. Mary and I had our rain jackets, but Grant didn’t, and he got soaked when he had to walk back and find Bella’s jacket that had fallen off while she rode in the stroller. Fortunately the weather has been warm, so we were just wet and not cold.

Walking to American Village  

The next morning was sunny and clear. We were going to walk back and pick up the car. But we diddled and diddled. We’ve been watching cupcake cooking shows, and I had promised Bella we would make cupcakes, which, as a competent 2-year-old, she remembered. Cupcakes baked, laundry done, more diddling. Then we needed lunch. All the time, Remi was cluster feeding in anticipation of his 6-week growth spurt and not agreeing to be held by anyone but Mary. we finally headed out, now with ominous grey clouds over by American Village. Then rain when we were again about half way there. Fortunately we were just a block from an Aeon, grocery/department store.

Once the rain tapered off, with Remi tucked in a front-carrier, Mary and I left Grant to shop with sleeping Bella while we walked to the car. We could have taken a taxi. They are everywhere and not hellaciously expensive, but after being accustomed to ride-share, I avoid cabs if possible. Ride-shares are illegal in Japan, so it’s shank’s mare if I don’t want to taxi.

We made it to the car, put an unhappy Remi in the car seat, and picked up Grant, Bella, and the groceries. A lot of work for a couple of beers.