Helplessness in Tokyo and Jazz everywhere.

I had a most long and excellent vacation in the US. The only thing I may have done more of than riding my bicycle on beautiful open roads is eating. I ate huge portions of sumptuous American style meals. Totally satisfied, I think it's the first time I actually put on weight during my month of cycle adventures. The weight has been shed quickly upon my return and consuming portions appropriate to mortals. Another thing that happened often was seeing live Jazz. Though I like all sorts of music, especially rock; when it comes to live music Jazz is the best. Fortunately I was born into a Jazz family as my father is an enthusiast of the music, my mother too, so it's something I can get turned on to. Since coming to Japan I have noticed that all sorts of restaurants will play jazz over the loudspeakers while dining. Recently, during a horribly humid day, still suffering from jetlag and a headache, I stumbled in to a Mosburger. Mosburger is a sort of fast food joint that makes interesting burgers using buns made out of rice. I ordered a Kimpera burger, made of rice patties and marinated vegetables in between, also a Mustard Chicken burger and a cup of coffee. The meal, especially the coffee, relieved my headache and lethargy. Then I noticed they were playing classic jazz. Not like Muzak stuff, mind you, but the real thing, like; Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, Theloneous Monk, etc.. I had some time before my Japanese class next door and sure as heck didn't want to go out and wait in the heat, so I sat in the restaurant and listened to Night in Tunisia, the original Dizzy Gillespie version. I was oblivious to folks chatting on there cellulars and children carrying on. All I heard was the master's trumpet puncturing space. There's a good chance that any restaurant you go into in our neighborhood and outlying vicinities will provide a similar soundtrack to your dining, be it burgers or beluga.
Sunday morning I got up to see my buddies Dirk and Matt at our favorite regular cycling spot, Oi Futo in Shinagawa. It was Matt's last ride before leaving Tokyo and returning to Australia. I sure as heck wasn't going to miss the chance to say goodbye, but I wasn't too enthusiastic to confront the heat and humidity that I had avoided for over a month of my vacation. I opened the balcony window to get a preview of what I was to come, that's when I heard the screams of a child from several blocks away,"Okasan...Matay MATAY!!!!!!!!!!", mother wait, wait. The screaming continued for over several minutes, it was not even six in the morning, this was a big deal, an emergency. Maybe someone died, maybe an accident, but where was it coming from, somewhere below me in the maze of houses... But where? Then I saw several streets down a woman carrying a handbag walking and about twenty meters behind two girls still in their bed clothes running after and screaming non stop OKASAN MATTAY!!!!!!!! Was she running away from home? Maybe a fight with her husband? I don't know and will never know, it was totally beyond my reach to help or even understand what was happening. After the guilt fled, I suited up and went out the door. As I was cruising near the Skyscraper district. I saw a man lying on the ground his had frailly waving in the air. Okay, this time no mucking about. I u-turned and rolled over to see an old man who seemed semi-conscious. I asked him in Japanese if he was okay, if he needed help. Just as I was trying to evaluate the seriousness of the situation a jogger came by. I gave him my cell phone and he called the police. I helped him explain his location and direction to the police, but more than that I was useless. The jogger thanked me and told me the police would arrive soon. The jogger knelt over and cradled the old mans head and comforted him. He thanked me again, and I got the clue... I did my job, I was real useful.
Thanks for reading.