Someone dialed 110 on a 2020.

In the southern Chinese province of Guizhou, the People’s Armed Police received a report that someone had hung “SOS” in the window of an apartment building. When they arrived at the scene, a surprised resident said that there was no distress signal in their window, just a few balloons which read “2020” to celebrate the new year, much like in our recreation pictured above.

However, apparently because of the houseplant or curtains on one side, the last “0” had a nasty habit of falling off, leaving “202.”

▼ Dramatization

Tree Image: Wikipedia/Graham Bould

Of course, when viewed backwards from outside, that combination of numbers could be mistaken for “SOS.”

It probably wouldn’t have made a difference had the last “0” still been hanging, because then it would have read “OSOS,” causing people to think the apartment was full of Spanish bears.

▼ Dramatización

Bear Images: Wikipedia/National Park Service, Assir

Thankfully, no one was in any danger of ethnic bears or anything else, and the cute misunderstanding made for a nice break from all the other terrifying news going on right now. Japanese netizens agreed.

“I like this.”
“Aw, that’s adorable.”
“It’s like something from a really cheap mystery.”
“I think that person is just a Haruhi Suzumiya fan and didn’t want to admit it.”
“That doesn’t look like ‘SOS’ at all to me.”
“Hey, aren’t those Daiso balloons?!”
“How could someone in a real emergency have the time to inflate and neatly tape up three balloons? They would have just written it on paper or the window itself.”

True, much like the year, hindsight is 20-20 and such a festive distress call does seem rather unlikely when you think about it. But anything is possible, so it’s better to err on the side of caution. Also, it’s nice to know that people are still looking out for one another.

This incident could also be seen as a warning to be careful how you hang your balloons in windows, and anyone reading this by the year 28008 should heed this warning well. Otherwise, they’ll be in for a whole other kind of zany misunderstanding.

Source: TV Asahi, Hachima Kiko
Photos ©SoraNews24 (Unless otherwise noted)
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