Essay Busted in a bathroom By John Gathright	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
トイレで逮捕される！？ アメリカで開かれる親族会に出席するために、日本を発った筆者と2人の息子。 車でユタ、アイダホ、ワイオミングと旅をする中、3人がユタ州で立ち寄った公衆トイレでその事件は起こった。 たまたま、なりゆきで3人一緒に個室に入り、そこで話し込んでいると、ドンドンとドアをノックする音。 そこにいたのは警官だった･･･。

The Miso Barrel Boys recently left their lofty treehouse perch and headed for a family reunion in the States. Unfortunately, Hiroko Mama had to stay behind so it was just me and my two sons on an exciting road trip through Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.

We rented a car in Salt Lake City in Utah and headed for Idaho, which we loved. It was more than just potatoes! Not only is it the source of most of the gemstones in the States, it also has the deepest canyons and a waterfall far higher than Niagara. The state also boasts the oldest ski lift in the States and a law that bans frowning in public!

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to a ranch owned by some relatives in Wyoming, where we saw moose, buffalo, foxes, beavers, muskrats and eagles. My boys loved the whole cowboy feel of the place, riding horses and eating buffalo burgers under the mounted head of a real buffalo.

We then returned to Utah for the birthday of my oldest son and a family reunion, which, considering there are more than 40 in my immediate family, took a long time. And it's here that something very embarrassing happened.

My sons and I were in the public bathroom. The bathroom was very busy so the three of us piled into the same cubicle to save time, which was fine, only my oldest son was unhappy that his birthday wasn't going as planned, so the three of us started talking about it. The discussion continued for a while, and we forgot the time, until suddenly there was banging on the cubicle door, and a rough and authoritative voice yelled, "Get out of there now!" It was a very heavily built and intense-looking policeman.

I was surprised and more than a little unnerved. I opened the door. "Get away from those children," yelled the policeman angrily, "and tell me what you're doing in the bathroom cubicle together?" "Talking with my sons," I said. "Do you have some ID? Can you prove that they are your sons?" he asked.

None of us were carrying ID. The policeman began to escort us out of the bathroom, and now, in a bit of a panic, I said, "My brother, brother-in-law and cousins are here. They can all identify us!" Thank heavens we were in Utah for a family reunion. The problem was soon solved

The policeman, who turned out to be a very pleasant man, explained that someone had called him, saying that a man was in the toilet cubicle with two boys. The policeman had come straight away. He said that because my sons were a mix of Japanese and Canadian blood, he hadn't seen any resemblance. He had to take precautions because of pedophiles, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

As we spoke, I was filled with appreciation. If I hadn't been their father and we hadn't been innocently talking in the toilet cubicle, the policeman's concern could have kept children from being molested or worse. It was good to know that someone cared for children other than their own and took action to make sure that they were safe.

I never met that person who reported us but I did learn from the policeman that he was a concerned father. I was grateful for his concern and that gratitude was magnified a hundred fold as I unfolded the newspaper on our flight home and read a number of news stories that involved terrible things done to young children by sick adults.

Shukan ST: Sept. 8, 2006

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