If you’re an Apple fanboy living in Japan, you may have noticed – while waiting in a ridiculously long line for your latest gadget – that there was a huge number of Chinese nationals waiting in line along with you.
That’s because, for the last couple of years, heading out to other countries to buy up the latest Apple products and sell them for a profit back in China has become a popular pastime for China’s more enterprising scalpers.
But this year, when Apple stores unexpectedly sold out of the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 + before lines could dissipate, things got a little out of hand with the remaining Chinese customers, who reportedly stormed at least one Tokyo-based Apple store and wrecked the place – in addition to leaving piles of garbage out on the streets. Which would not have gone down well had it not been for the actions of one man.
Thankfully for already tenuous Japan-China relations, a single Saitama Prefecture-based cameraman originally from China took it upon himself to clean up the mess his countrymen left, quite possibly single-handedly averting World War III.
▼ A Japanese Twitter user posts a photo of his experience waiting in line in front of the Apple store. He noticed someone had saved their place in line (as is custom in Japan) with a tarp and a few folding chairs, and was shocked when around 40 Chinese scalpers showed up to claim the spot later.
See, in light of Sino-Japanese relations – which have always been rocky – being a bit on the decline of late, Chinese nationals visiting Japan are under even more intense scrutiny from the Japanese than usual, and our photographer hero, Ho Jiaxi, decided it would probably ruin his next couple of months if he didn’t do something about his countrymen’s rude behavior.
Ho set out on his own (eventually pulling in one other volunteer) to clean up the mess left by Chinese customers – a task that apparently took him two days.
▼ The scene outside of one Osaka Apple store leading up to the iPhone 6 release.
“The Chinese people waiting outside of the Apple store have embarrassed their country,” Ho told Japanese media. “Because of these few people, I fear the Japanese will think badly of all Chinese people. I’m here cleaning up my countrymen’s garbage in hopes of improving the reputation of Chinese people in Japan.”
We obviously have no choice here but to conclude that Ho is an all around super swell guy, but there’s a further lesson to be learned here: the actions of a few shouldn’t have to reflect poorly on the many. Oh, and now may be a good time to switch to Android.
Source: Yahoo! Japan
Photo: YouTube