The weather is fairly nice today - cool, but sunny with just a little bit of wind. I had some free time this morning and decided to go pick some olives.

I didn’t bring my ladder with me but I thought I’ll just pick what I can reach and be satisfied with that.

Whenever I pick olives I get stares from people because they can’t figure out what I’m picking. When they find out that I’m picking olives, then they can’t figure out why I’d want to pick them.

Today was no different in that I had people watching me, but doing so very subtly.

After a short time however, I was approached by a police officer and asked to show my special identification card (needed by foreigners in Japan) and then my driver’s license. After a short chat I was then allowed to continue picking.

It should note here that I was picking the olives on public land and was not causing a danger to vehicular traffic nor bothering any citizens.

A short time after this I was approached by a man (I’ll call him Citizen A) who asked some questions about my activities. While discussing this with Citizen A, we were again approached by the previous police officer (I was in view of the police office). The officer had phoned the city offices and obtained permission for me to pick the olives.

I was surprised at the formality as in all my other experiences of olive picking I was always told to pick to my heart’s content because my efforts resulted in less olives dropping to the ground, thereby creating less mess to be cleaned up. However, I was glad I was given the OK, and I thanked the officer for these services. I was also given the phone number to call to let the city offices know I’m picking olives, should I ever want to pick again.

Having received the go-ahead, I continued to pick olives.

But then another individual came by car, and hearing that the police had phoned the city and received permission started phoning for someone to bring a ladder for me. I protested and said I was getting close to finishing for the day and was told not to worry and that the ladder was close by.

Sure enough, an individual was on the spot in a minute and he brought a ladder.

Citizen A then climbed the ladder with me and together we picked olives for another 10-15 minutes. I was amazed at the kindness of these individuals to help me in my activities.

I soon finished my picking, thanked everyone and went home.

What an interesting experience this was.