I got off my flight from the U.K. and was walking through the busy city of Tokyo, with people bustling everywhere, trying to get to the places they needed to be at. I squeezed in between people, trying my best not to be trampled over. After I got through the crowd and finally had some air to breathe in, I heard my stomach growl. I realized how long it had been since I had eaten and started looking around for a restaurant to eat at.
I walked in circles for a while, but I found a small bakery which had people going in and out constantly, carrying pastries of all kinds and sizes. I opened the door of the shop and was shocked to see all the employees there were elderly people. In my country, the U.K., most people would retire at that age, so I wondered why older people were working all day and night. I walked over to the counter, where I saw pastries of all kinds. I chose a simple Japanese pastry called dorayaki, which looked like two pancakes with filling inside of it.
Just as I was headed to the counter to pay for my pastry, I heard the door open behind me, and a little boy walked in. He looked no more than the age of five, wearing shorts with mud on them and his shirt ripped at the back. His face had dirt on it, while his knees were bruised. He walked over to the counter where all the pastries were, and pulled out a few coins out of his pocket. He looked at the price of the pastry, and then counted his coins, but he was a few coins off. He put his head down, listening to his stomach growl.
As he was about to leave the bakery, one of the old employees called out to him, “Wait!” The young child stopped and turned around to see who had called him. The old man behind the pastry counter gestured to him and asked, “Child, why are you leaving the shop?” The boy sighed and said, “I wanted to buy a pastry to celebrate my baby sister’s birthday, but I am off a few coins. ” The old man, looking sad, then asked him which pastry he wanted for his sister. The boy looked up at the man, confused, and then pointed to his sister’s favorite one. The old man took that pastry out and put it into a to-go box, then gave it to the boy. The boy took the box and gave the old man a big, warm smile. Then, his smile vanished and he asked the man, “Why did you give me the pastry for free?” The man chuckled and told the boy to wait right there for a minute. As the man returned, he held a photo of a family. “This is my family. We are not that rich and to support my grandchildren, I have to work at this pastry shop. Why do you think all the workers here are elderly? We all should be retired by now, but we do it because of our love of pastries and to support our families. I don’t get paid very much, but I work as hard as I can, so my family will have food to eat to survive. Now, my family is in better shape, as we work and work. But, when I was a little boy like you, I was very poor, and my parents worked day and night to feed us, but we got very little food even then. On my birthday, we could not have anything to celebrate with, like a cake as we could not afford it. I had to do odd jobs in order to earn some money to help support my family. I know the pain you are going through, and this is the least I can do to help. Even though I have very little to give you, I hope you make the best of it. ” The old man told the young boy. The boy smiled, his eyes starting to water. He hugged the man tightly and whispered, “Thank you.” The old man smiled at him and waved goodbye to the boy, as the young one walked through the door, skipping down the sidewalk, his face beaming.
That day, I had learned one of the most important lessons of my life. Even though one has very little, you should try to help others in need in any way you can, even by giving someone a pastry to celebrate a little one’s birthday. I had learned so much with just a single visit to the pastry shop, and was even more excited to learn about Japan and what deeds of kindness could do to a person. It was truly an honor to be living life in a place like Japan.