Funny, but also kind of sad

Reuters: Would-be Japan robber asks bank how to do it

(Nice headline ;P)

A would-be Japanese bank robber asked staff how he should carry out the crime before meekly obeying a request to leave and then accidentally stabbing himself in the leg with a knife he was carrying.

The 58-year-old unemployed man went into a branch of the Saitama Resona Bank in the town of Kumagaya, north of Tokyo, on Wednesday, intending to rob it, a police spokesman said.

According to local media reports the man first asked a bank teller, "Any idea how you rob a bank?" The teller alerted another member of staff, who asked the man to leave.

"He left quietly when asked to," the police spokesman said.

It's funny to begin with, but then you start to wonder about the guy. He doesn't seem like the type to rob a bank. Is he desperate? What are his circumstances? Does he have a family to support? How long has he been unemployed?