Grood.com

A brief and probably inaccurate history lesson: Facing defeat towards the closing stages of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army resorted to a form of suicide attack where they would deliberately crash their aircraft, often laden with extra bombs and torpedoes and just enough fuel to reach their target, into Allied naval vessels and other ships. They were called kamikazes, which commonly translates to “divine wind.” The kamikaze pilots were treated as heroes and special ceremonies were held almost immediately prior to departing on their suicide mission in which the pilots were decorated and honored. According to the U.S. Air Force, approximately 2,800 Kamikaze attackers sunk 34 Navy ships, damaged 368 others, killed 4,900 sailors, and wounded over 4,800

After driving in LA for two years and some change, I’ve started to develop a theory about the origins of the Kamikaze. It was not about honor or patriotism or even a last ditch effort to defeat the Allies. No, I suppose the reason there were Kamikazes in the first place is because the Japanese were just not very good at landing their own planes.

I don’t think it makes me racist. I’m just calling it like I see it based on my own personal experience along with many of my non-Asian colleagues. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying all Asians are bad drivers. No, that would be racist. I am saying, however, that the majority of bad drivers that one encounters in LA just happen to be of Asian descent. This is not bigotry. It’s just honest, sad observation. They just don’t seem to get it (for extra emphasis, imagine me shaking my head as I type).

Come to LA for a week, you’ll see. It’s freaky.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 1st, 2007 at 12:57 am and is filed under Editorials, Only in LA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.