Originally Posted by joejones

I'll see jib's story and raise him this one:

I was riding my bicycle through Asakusa one night on the way home from work. I stopped at a red light at the main intersection by the river crossing—the one above the Ginza Line, which is ordinarily swamped with tourists.

A completely nondescript Japanese salaryman, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, came up to me and politely asked for help finding his business hotel—without even bothering to ask first whether I spoke Japanese, mind you. He had a printed-out map but had no idea where he was or which way he was supposed to go. I pointed out where we were and which way he should go, and he thanked me and left.

I spent the rest of the ride home wondering why the hell he asked me, Whitey McViking, in one of the most clueless tourist-infested parts of Tokyo, and to be honest it still keeps me up sometimes...