Gaijin Jump

By Craig Chapin. First published in January 1989.

There is much more to this story than I think I will ever be able to fit into Gaijin Jump. This was not to be my only encounter with this gentleman. But the rest is a story for another time.

He spotted me entering a stationery store as he rode his motorbike down the street. He shouted at me as he passed, but I kept walking. I attracted a fair bit of attention and had learned the wisdom of not responding to aggressively friendly people. From inside the store, I could hear his bike screech to a halt with a loud clatter. The rider had either let it crash to the pavement or had run into something. Bare moments later, he ran into the store, cornered me and announced our friendship. The lines in the comic strip were his exact words.

He then left, and I did not see him again until one very bizarre evening. But, as I said, that is a story for another time.