I'm Glad I Spilled the Coffee [Essay]
I boarded the train at Osaka Station. At first, there were no empty seats, but after a few stops, the crowd thinned out and seats became available.
Just as I was about to sit by the window in an empty seat, another man tried to sit in the seat next to it.
"Whoa! What is this!"
Surprised, I looked at the man and saw a puddle of coffee on the floor by the aisle seat where he had tried to sit.
It seemed someone had left a coffee on the floor, and he had kicked it without noticing.
Well, that makes sense. It's rare to find coffee left on the floor of a train.
To tell the truth, I had noticed someone had left a coffee behind when I first boarded, but I had completely forgotten about it by the time I went to sit in that seat.
If I had been more careful, I could have prevented it, so I felt a little sorry for the man next to me.
The man had plenty of pocket tissues.
On the other hand, I didn't have anything that could wipe up liquid.
Even so, I felt uneasy doing nothing and panicked for a moment.
"Excuse me, could you help me wipe this up?" the man next to me asked, offering me a pocket tissue.
"Of course!" I replied, and we managed to wipe up the spilled coffee.
Then, a woman who had nothing to do with the situation saw what was happening and handed me a plastic bag to throw away the used tissues.
With this, I could pick up and dispose of the tissues that had soaked up all the coffee.
Furthermore, the man next to me said, "Thank you. I received this, so please use it if you'd like," and gave me a wet wipe.
It was probably given to him by someone other than the woman who gave me the plastic bag.
Now I could clean my hands.
I didn't want to have to clean up spilled coffee.
Why should I have to wipe up coffee that someone else left behind?
But, strangely, I didn't think that at all.
I was helped by the kindness of others, and I felt happy enough to think that this incident was a good thing.
Helping others can make people this happy.
Next time, I want to be like the people who helped me today and help someone else who is in trouble.
For starters, I think I'll make sure to always carry pocket tissues.