by Pa Rock
Cultural Explorer
There is an impending election of some sort in my neighborhood. The past two evenings I have been entertained by the sounds of a young lady barking campaign promises in Okinawan through a loudspeaker on a car. Coming home from work tonight the vehicle drove past me, and a lovely lady sitting in the backseat waved a white gloved-hand at me. When I ignored her, she began waving insistently, so I finally relented and waved back - an act of contrition that seemed to appease her. (I don't look like the typical Okinawan voter, at least I don't think that I do, so I'm at a loss to explain her vehemence in soliciting my acknowledgement of her presence.)
There are also numerous photographs of candidates going up on all of the local light poles.
I remember Okinawan electioneering from the last time I was here - cars with bullhorns, candidates standing on flatbed trucks at busy intersections harassing anyone within earshot, and photo posters going up everywhere like out-of-control blooming Okinawan weeds! If there has been a significant change in the process over the last forty years, it is that more women seem to be running for office. That is a good thing - but the white gloves are a bit much!
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