A nice gesture from an anonymous person has Twitter users all a-titter.

As Coronavirus fears continue to rise, the mounting tension among Japanese citizens has led to various incidents of overt racism, angry outbursts, panic buying, and theft. But not everyone is letting their fear get the better of them; some people are responding to the difficult times with kindness.

For example, Japanese Twitter was touched when a seller on online marketplace Mercari sent free masks with their products, not just as a thank you but as a random act of kindness.

▼ “This is the first time I was ever touched by a transaction on Mercari…”

This photo, which was originally shared by another user with the same comment, shows a photo of some individually wrapped masks that presumably came with an order of video games. Attached to the masks is a sticky note with a hand-written message, which reads,

“Thank you for your purchase. It seems like there’s a shortage of masks because of coronavirus, so I decided to give masks as a gift to people who buy things from me. It’s not much, but I hope you will use it.”

The gesture is really quite impressive, as masks seem to be sold out almost everywhere in Japan, and the lack of them has caused no shortage of conflicts on the streets. That’s why it came as such a shock to Japanese netizens; because they’re such a rare commodity at the moment, no one could imagine giving them away for free.

“That person is so nice!”
“Those people selling masks for high prices should learn from this person.”
“I really admire the people on Mercari who send little handwritten notes with their products.”
“The difference between this person and the people re-selling masks is like the difference between heaven and earth.”

But some people remained a little more cynical, and they were more skeptical of the gesture:

“Maybe they bought them to resell them, and when it became illegal they just started adding them to orders instead.”
“What if it’s just something someone threw away?”

Considering that each mask is very cleanly wrapped in plastic that looks sealed, they’re probably not used masks, so we’re inclined to believe that the seller included them out of the kindness of their heart. Perhaps they had extra and thought others needed them more than they did? In any case, it’s not the first time people have given away masks since the crisis began. Groups of Chinese residents in Nagoya gave out masks last month, and it’s hard to believe that they were doing it out of any kind of malice.

It’s easy to get swept up in the panic and think only of yourself when things seem dire, but everyone benefits when we are all kind to and considerate of each other in trying times. If there’s anything we’ve noticed during all of the most recent natural disasters in Japan, it’s that times like these require everyone to come together and support each other, even if it’s just in a simple, remote way like this.

Source: Twitter/@Q0S_Rimu, My Game News Flash
Image: Twitter/@Q0S_Rimu
Insert image: Pakutaso
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