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SOME PEOPLE brave the jungles of Africa in search of adventure.  Some people go over Niagara in a barrel for thrills.  Some people climb mountains for excitement.  In Japan, this is unnecessary.  The serviceman simply takes a ride on an electric-powered Japanese train.

The Japanese are noted for their politeness and courtesy.  But something happens to them when they ride the trains.  They just aren't polite and courteous anymore.  Instead, they are a swarming mob, clutching bundles, briefcases, umbrellas, and baby-sans.  Without so much as a gomen nasai (please forgive me), they storm past the amazed bystander or sweep him right along.  Everyone squeezes into the train.  It is crowded.  Correction: It is very, very crowded.

It is like bargain day at Gimbel's.  People and packages.  Cheers and chatter.  The survival of the fastest.  The GI isn't very fast and he doesn't even get a hand-strap to cling to.  But he doesn't need one.  He can't move forward or backward.  The side lanes are blocked.  He stands there absurdly and awkwardly, surveying the heads and ears and eyes that surround him.

Everybody carries something.  Mama-san carries her shopping bundle--and baby-san on back.  A young school girl miraculously studies her lesson.  A small boy stubbornly holds tight to the string of a soaring balloon.  Papa-san hugs his fishing pole.  It's the grandstand manner of an American baseball game, complete with the crowds that jam Yankee Stadium on the days of the Series.

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