Watch out, Sneaky and Ranma! Crime by the elderly in Japan is increasing! And since 20% of the population is over 65 in Japan, the pool of criminals is huge! Guard you wallets! They are everywhere!
Of course, maybe it isn’t so bad if elderly people are swiping food and medicine…it’s probably much more efficient than raising taxes and having a government program that gives them out! (The libertarian in me is raging, with all the bailouts and incompetence these days.) But it is interesting how people react:
Despite the arrest numbers, prosecutions of the elderly in a culture that holds them in high regard are rare. Stores often don’t even report the crime to police, according to security experts.
The 80-year-old man who stole the stomach medicine was eventually led to his bicycle by store security. The security officer helped the man with his groceries and bowed in respect, hoping the elderly man had learned his lesson and would return as a good customer.
I have a feeling that in America they would get thrown in the slammer,or at least have the cop take them to the station or interview them before letting them go. And at the end I doubt there would be bowing (or American-equivalent of showing repect).
sneaky
Luckily I’ve had no trouble with the elderly here, except for the racist ones in Enzan that mistreated me and a group I went out with hiking. I do tend to get some stares and all. But thats normal. There have been a lot of strange crimes here lately, and its causing inconveniences. For example the new manner rules prohibiting using phones around ATMs cause the elderly are getting scammed a lot. In fact now that I think about it every time I go to a ATM these days people give me a worried stare like Im going to do something. Pretty sad actually.