ice cream story top

Some things you learn when you’re young never leave you, and this is probably one of them.

We all know about Japanese people’s legendary honesty and politeness, but where do they learn it from? Is there a class in elementary school? Is there something special floating around in the air or water?

One Japanese parent recently tweeted a short story about how her little daughter might have learned for herself the value of being polite. Here’s the original tweet from Japanese Twitter user @tarosuke081 (English explanation below).

The story goes like this. The parent and their little daughter and baby son went to the aquarium. They gave their daughter 300 yen to go buy an ice cream, but when she returned with ice cream in hand, the receipt said it cost 350 yen – 50 yen more than she had been given.

The daughter said that the man behind her in line had paid the extra 50 yen for her. She was of course very happy, but being so young and not really understanding what had happened, she left without saying thank you to the kind stranger.

On the car ride back home, the parent had this to say to their daughter:

“I explained to her what had happened, that the stranger had given her money that he’d worked hard to earn at his job, and I asked her how he probably felt with her leaving him and not even saying thank you. She started crying and saying, ‘I feel bad for him! I’m sorry I didn’t say thank you!'”

▼ Tears are just little life lessons dripping down the face.

ice cream story 01Flickr/MIKI Yoshihito

The parent also apologized to their daughter, saying that they were at fault too for not giving her enough money in the first place, making it an all around apology-filled day. They also added a big thank you to the stranger who gave their daughter the 50 yen, saying that while the tweet would probably never reach them, they would pay their good deed forward.

And there was not a dry eye on Twitter that day. Here are some responses:

▼ “When I was a student I worked at a supermarket, and there were some little sisters who came in running an errand, but they didn’t have enough money either. I tried to tell them that, but that just stared at me blankly, so I just gave it to them.”

▼ “I hope that kind man hears this story!
And I hope that I’d do the same thing if it were me behind that little girl.”

▼ “Not only was that man nice, but your response to your daughter was wonderful too.
I think she’ll grow up into a wonderful woman.”

https://twitter.com/A_Koma_YNai/status/754563712703340544

▼ “This make me feel warm inside.
Maybe the world isn’t such a terrible place.”

Need some more Japanese Twitter life lessons? How about the sassy advice columnist who shuts down a crazy mother? Or the dad who teaches his daughter about how to handle her alcohol in a unique way? Just don’t forget your box of Twitter tissues!

Source: Twitter/@tarosuke081 via CuRAZY
Featured/top image: GAHAG