You got a problem?

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Location: Tokyo, Japan

I was walking around in Akihabara one night (the district of Tokyo with all the electronics shops, anime shops, etc.) and happened upon an illuminated, free-standing vertical map of the neighborhood. I wasn't going anywhere in particular and decided to check out the map to get a feel for what was nearby.

From behind me, somebody said, "You got a problem?!"

The tone of voice was aggressive and the accent was perfect American English.

I thought to myself, "Shit, I'm just walking around and now I have to fight a guy?!"

I turned around. The speaker was an older Japanese man. He repeated himself. He could say this one phrase with no accent at all. Then, with a thick Japanese accent, he elaborated: "You lost? You need direction? Where you going?"

The guy was just trying to be helpful.

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