"It Must Have Been So Hard to Get That Seat... I Almost Cried": Kindness That Moved a Mother on Her Way Back to Seoul

Received Warm Kindness on Train to Cheongnyangni
Author: "I Realized That Kindness Inspires More Kindness"

A couple who gave up their seat to a mother with a child. Screenshot from an online community.

A mother traveling back up to Seoul after the Lunar New Year holiday with her child has moved many people after sharing a story about the warm kindness she received from a married couple.

On February 17, an anonymous office-worker community called Blind carried a post titled, "I almost cried on the train today. There are people like this."

The poster, identified as A, boarded an ITX train from Yeongju to Cheongnyangni after the Lunar New Year holiday, with her child in a stroller. A wrote, "I took the 3:47 p.m. train today," adding, "Because of the holiday, I could only get a standing-room ticket, and the standing section was so packed that there was no room to even put my feet down." She continued, "My child in the stroller kept crying, so in the end I put the baby in a carrier and stood there holding the child the whole way," explaining the situation at the time.

At that moment, a man approached her and asked, "Where are you going? There is an empty seat, please come this way," and A, thinking he was simply guiding her to a vacant seat, followed him.

In the seat the man pointed to, a woman was already sitting. It turned out the two were a married couple, and they were giving up one of their own seats for A and her child.

A recalled, "For a moment I was so flustered and grateful that I choked up. The two of them squeezed together uncomfortably in one seat and offered the window seat to me and my baby. It was such an extraordinary kindness that it was hard to accept. I had never experienced anything like it in my life, so it almost felt like I was on a hidden-camera show."

She went on, "Those seats must have been hard to get during the holiday season, yet they readily gave one up to a stranger. That thought really resonated deeply with me," adding, "It made me wonder if such consideration is really possible in this world."

Later, another woman who had been sitting in a different seat volunteered to sit in the cramped seat with the man in his place. Watching this, A said it made her think that "one act of kindness gives rise to another."

After they arrived at their destination, A, wanting to repay their kindness, asked for their contact information. However, the couple reportedly just told her, "Raise your baby well," and then left.

A wrote, "What I received today was not just a seat; it felt like I had been given a whole new attitude toward life," adding, "It made me think over and over again about whether I could extend the same kind of kindness to others."

She added, "If any of their family members or acquaintances happen to see this post, I hope you can please convey that I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude," and, "I hope I will have a chance to convey my thanks in a way that does not cause them any inconvenience."

The post has received about 1,900 'likes' and has struck a chord with many. Online commenters have reacted by saying things like, "They say couples grow alike, and this couple has grown old in such a wonderful way," "Everyone has a good heart, but not everyone can turn it into action," and "I suddenly feel like crying."