The Unique Man

A story about respecting those who overcome their major indifferences and accept themselves as they are. Their positive attitudes can teach us a lesson about the negative ways we view ourselves.

   While stationed on Atsugi Naval Air Base in Japan in 1982, I quite often would hop on a train alone in the mornings after being secured for a three-day liberty.  From Sagamino Station, I would travel the Sotetsu Line to the end of the line in Yokohama or continue my journey via other connecting trains. Tokyo, Shinjuku, and Harajuku were a few places I travelled quite often.  Other times, I would let random trains take me into new, unacquainted towns that I had never explored before. However, most of the time, my primary destination would be Futamatagawa Station to meet up with a young and beautiful Japanese girl whom I was dating at the time.

 

   After boarding a morning train from Sagamino Station, I would often see the same Japanese man sitting across the aisle from me. He would arrive from Ebina Station, which was at the end of the line in the other direction from Sagamino Station.   Each time I saw this man, I noticed that he wore a neat business suit, carried a briefcase across his lap, and read his morning newspaper. The man was obviously in route to his job.

 

   The gentleman was very unique in both his physical appearance and in his confidence.  Every time I saw him, I was very impressed with his positive attitude and his normal behavior, despite his very unusual cranial feature.  A large portion on the right, top side of his head was missing. It was impossible not to notice. The man appeared to be missing approximately 1/5 of his head, where seemingly, the right side of his brain should have been. He did not wear a hat nor did he try to conceal his uniqueness in any way; however, the man had a full scalp of hair, even over the concaved portion of his head. I’ve often wondered about the cause of his deformity and have imagined such things as a possible war injury, a terrible accident, a surgery, a birth defect, or a traumatic injury due to the tragic Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombing in 1945.  Regardless of the reason, the gentleman seemed to be perfectly normal as he comfortably sat in his seat across from me while reading his morning newspaper. The man displayed comfort, contentment, and perfect confidence in both his facial expression and in his body language.  His eyes focused attentively at the words on the newspaper in front of him with no shiftiness in eye movements to glance at anyone who happened to be staring at him.  He displayed no signs of nervousness or a weak self-confidence.

 

   Why am I writing about this gentleman? First of all, this is a memory that has stuck in my mind since the days that I first saw him and I simply want to share it. However, my main reason for writing about this gentleman is because of my tremendous respect for him. This man was someone whose marred imperfection did not stop him from being the normal person he truly was. If he had chosen to act in an insecure, nervous, and self-conscious manner in public, then I and probably most others around him would feel uncomfortable and awkward to be his presence. In this case, it would be difficult to ignore his odd deformity and his insecure attitude. This uncomfortable situation could be annoying and it could make others feel quite nervous.

 

   Instead, the confident gentleman’s disfiguration seemed to be nothing more to him than simply a broken fingernail, which made me feel very comfortable to be around him. If his deformity was nothing for him to worry about, then it most certainly was nothing for me to worry about. This extremely unique man was in total control of his condition, which made others, and me, feel much more relaxed as we tended to mind our own business.  He became such a normal sight to me each time I saw him that I began not noticing him, anymore.  He had become a regular John Doe in the crowd of other John Doe’s.

 

   Before I knew it, I had subconsciously begun focusing my attention elsewhere, such as at the pleasant scenery out of the train windows, at the posted advertisements along the train walls, or at a very beautiful girl who happened to be standing next me!