I’d been in Japan a couple years before one unforgettable late fall morning in 2000. A few teachers were sitting on the sofa in the teachers room at the junior high school where I was teaching as I entered. They were talking about something in the newspaper one was holding. I walked over to join them and as I approached the science teacher looked right at me and asked with a straight face:
“Henry sensei, how about your erection?”
We’d joked quite a bit and talked about many things by then but …
“My… uh… My… What!?”
I could feel my face grow warm as I fumbled for a reply until finally it hit me.
“Oh! The Election!”
I’d told of voting via absentee ballot so he was asking my thoughts on Bush v. Gore and the Florida recount.
I should note that I still have the damnedest time pronouncing りゅ (ryu) correctly. For many Japanese it’s the “L” phoneme that gives them fits. Thus my (country’s) “election” became my “erection”.
After I removed my backpack from where I’d unconsciously placed it in front of my crotch and told why I was laughing myself silly by then, his mispronunciation gave rise (pun intended) to a lot of joking and we all sat laughing about it until the bell rang.
The story is true, and that’s about as much as I’ll share about politics, elections (or erections) online anymore.
