Japanese Twitter user and nursing home helper 小山けんいち Kenichi Koyama (@kenny_gby) posted about an incident that he witnessed at a convenience store which initially made him very nervous.

A tough-looking man approached...

At the counter, there was a disabled shopper together with his helper. The shopper was trying to pay for his purchases, taking out coins from his small coin purse one by one. Naturally, it was taking some time and the line at the counter was growing.

Then, a man which Koyama described as looking like "a tough guy" approached the two even though he wasn't waiting in line.

Koyama then became quite nervous imagining the scene that would play out next. He was afraid that the man would get angry at them, telling them "You're slow!" or something to that effect.

However, he spoke directly to the clerk at the counter, saying "Give them another tray," and then, turning to the man and his helper, "It's hard to take coins out. If you spread them out, it will be easier to take them out."

As it turns out, Koyama had no reason to worry.

The "tough-looking man" was just a good samaritan giving the disabled shopper some assistance.

As a nursing home helper, Koyama admitted: "We're in the business of helping people who want to do things on their own but if there is an imbalance of some kind, it can become impossible for them to do so."

Restoring that "balance" that Koyama refers to is not always something that disabled people can do on their own.

In this case, the man's advice benefited not only the helper but also the customer who was determined to carry out the task by himself.

Koyama's posts were widely shared and elicited many responses, such as:

In situations such as these, it's not always easy to size things up and give appropriate advice.

However, respecting other people's thoughts and feelings is something that each of us can strive to do in our own way.

Finally, the anecdote also confirms the old wisdom that you can't judge people by their appearances!