- Tags:
- Help / high school girl / Kindness / Manners / Phone Chargers / Smartphone / stranger
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It's no exaggeration to say that smartphones are now indispensable in our daily lives. Many of us worry when our phones are running low on batteries, especially when we're busy.
Some places in Japan, such as net cafes and some coffee shops, will lend you a charger. If you don't know where to go, however, you may have a hard time locating such a place if you can't use your smartphone to begin with.
A high school girl in need of help...
Japanese car customization hobbyist and road trip enthusiast sola (@sola63889900) was taking a break at a local Starbucks one day when he became aware that a high school girl sitting next to him "seemed to be in trouble" because her smartphone was almost out of batteries. She must have forgotten to bring her charger.
Although it isn't clear from his Tweet whether the girl had company and had mentioned her problem to someone else or was sitting alone and had mumbled it to herself, but she vocalized her problem and Sola overheard her.
Since Sola happened to have a charger in his car, he thought he could be of service so he went to get it and gave it to the girl.
And in return...
Reproduced with permission from sola (@sola63889900)
...she offered him a Starbucks tiramisu in a takeout box!
She even went outside the store as Sola was leaving and said thanks to Sola while bowing repeatedly.
In a follow-up comment, Sola explained that he "didn't expect anything in return as a token of thanks," but he respected the girl's sentiments and gratefully accepted the tiramisu, which he later enjoyed at dinner time.
The post elicited numerous comments such as, "You are a gentleman!" "Smart move," and "What a nice girl..."
Some of the discussion also focused on how, on the one hand, some men in sola's position, out of fear of being viewed suspiciously, may hesitate to provide help and how, on the other hand, some people in the high school girl's position, out of suspicion towards a stranger, may react in ways that may be perceived as unkind or rude when they're offered such help.
However, both sola and the girl's exemplary behavior serve to remind us that there's still room for kindness in this world.