Police HQ: Take 2

Went back downtown today (haha I love saying that) to drop off Ty's passport to the authorities. Anyway, when I got there I spoke to Lieutenant Miaoka, and when he arrived he waved me back to the questioning rooms again and we sat down, lit up a cigarette, and started chatting again, this time all in Japanese due to the non-compulsory nature of my visit.

We just say there smoking a cigarette shooting the shit for a bit, it was weird, he told me he went out drinking last night and he was really tired, said I looked tired too and asked if I had work today. We talked about our preferences in alcohol, and clarified that Heineken is in fact Swedish beer not American. I explained what a microbrew is and why I prefer them to standard American macros.

Then, when it came time to sign off on the passport, maybe four or five other people came in, and it was this kind of Field Day almost, people were laughing and asking if I could understand them and translating the things I didn't know and oohing and aaahing at my ability to 'read' the kanji on the forms, even though in reality I just did the exact same thing I did yesterday and in the same order, which happened to be correct.

It's weird, I don't know if that's just the way they treat people to encourage them to be compliant, or if I somehow managed to actually get on these people's good sides despite the fact my friend is in their custody locked up 20 meters behind us. It doesn't feel right being so friendly with police officers when my friend is miserable like he is, but at the same time, I can't help feeling like the more relaxed I make them feel, the greater the change some of that good will might diffuse onto Ty and help him out.

Basically, I don't care what the reason is, if it helps Ty then I will do it, and gladly. It's just a little easier given that what I have been doing is just being myself and making people smile.