One man in China was mad as hell at uncivilized behavior in airports and divided opinions in the country by not taking it anymore.

The following video took place sometime in late May at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport in Fujian Province.

It opens with a young man making his case for what he is about to be seen doing.

“Some guy took off his shoes and socks at the airport and is sleeping on a bench. I’m really angry now. I don’t know if the airport officials saw this. When people from other countries see such an uncivilized act, it makes China look bad.”

After the monologue, we watch him enact his own brand of justice on this weary traveler. First he makes a stealthy approach.

Then, he grabs the shoes.

Finally, he heads to a nearby trash bin and tosses in the loafers.

The video abruptly cuts off at that point, but his 20-second gesture went viral in China quickly and sharply divided opinions on the matter.

“This guy is certainly full of himself. That was a little overboard.”

“Did he really have to toss the shoes? Wouldn’t it have been better to confront the sleeping man about his behavior.”

“I often see people like that [sleeping man] in my airport. It is really bad.”

“[The sleeping man is engaged in] a shameful act that should be policed more and hurts our reputation in the world.”

On one hand, sleeping without shoes ranks rather low compared with other offenses such as, say, cooking rice in the waiting area, airing out underwear in the waiting area, falling asleep in the x-ray machine, smashing things with chairs, pooping on planes, pooping on planes, pooping on planes, pooping on trains, dressing up turtles as hamburgers, and staging an en masse coup d’etat of airline check-in counters.

That being said, taking one’s socks off in such a situation does cross a subtle but important line.

Right or wrong, the deed is done and the message has been sent to everyone in China and the world for that matter: don’t take your shoes and socks off when sleeping in the middle of an airport. It’s nasty and you never know when someone will take the laws of etiquette into their own hands while your guard’s down.

Source: Narinari.com (Japanese)
Video: YouTube/Xinwen Kizd