It's A Pain In The Posterior ...

getting followed around by the Communist Party propaganda broadcast truck.

I had to go to the office today and decided to drive. That was a mistake. Traffic was heavy and sloooww. Then the Communist Party truck pulled behind me, and their loudspeakers were blaring.

I discovered that Charlie Brown's teachers were all communists. The propaganda truck broadcast sounded just like this:

Wa wawa wawawa wa. Crime wawa wawa wa wa waa. Elementary schools wawa junior high schools wawa wawawa waaaa. The Japanese Communist Party wawawa, wawa, wa, waaa, wawawaaaa. Waawa, waaaawa, wawawawawaa wa.

Now that I think about it, though, I dated a girl for several years whose parents were communists, and they didn't sound anything like that. Odd.

Loudspeakers in the neighborhood are a fairly common way to advertise something in Japan. In the evenings, there are vans that drive very slowly through the neighborhood broadcasting little ditties about ramen, baked potatoes, or kerosine, on an almostly nightly basis. I was down in Oita once and a Cessna 172 flew over the town with industrial strength loudspeakers wailing away about something or other.

I have only rewarded this behavior once. Once, after a long day at work, I had resigned myself to wading into the grocery store to get something, when I heard that lovely ramen ditty going by. I ran out the door, caught the van, and had myself a hot, tasty bowl of ramen. Very convenient.