Kind Japanese bus driver fulfills child’s dream to push the button

Japanese bus drivers, bringing smiles to children’s faces one button at a time.

Public transportation, while wildly convenient in many populous areas of Japan, can sometimes be a pain in the neck. There are shoulder sleepers, super crowded morning commutes, and occasionally, whiny children. The latter is what today’s story is about.

Twitter user @bamse_lotta recently Tweeted a heartwarming story they heard on a bus ride that has many in Japan going, “Aww!” Most Japanese buses come equipped with buttons near most seats that you push when you want to get off at the next stop. However, when pulling up to the last stop on a bus route, there’s technically no need to push the button since everyone has to get off at the last stop. While this makes sense in the adult world, this logic doesn’t always translate to children. Here’s the story (translation below):

▼ Sunday mornings just got a whole lot nicer.

別の子が遠慮がちにピンポンと押して、車内に笑いが起こった。そのあとも他の子が代わる代わるピンポン。バスはピンポンまみれで駅のターミナルに到着した。良い朝。

—
ばむゆき (@bamse_lotta) July 07, 2019

“At the intersection before the last stop on the bus, a child was whining loudly, ‘I wanted to push the button!’ The bus driver reset the button light and said to the child, ‘You can push it,” and the child happily pushed it. The driver then announced, ‘Since it’s Sunday today, you can all push the button to your heart’s content.

Another hesitant kid also pushed the button and made the whole bus laugh. That child and the other took turns pushing the button, so when we pulled up to the last stop, all we could hear was the button chime. It was a good morning.”

When another Twitter user commented that even as a 35-year-old man they’d like to push the button, the original Tweeter replied that the bus driver said adults were welcome to push the button as well.

Netizens replied to this story of the bus driver’s kindness with equally kind words and even some anecdotes of their own.

“This is a great story. It’s not surprising that kids want to become bus drivers as much as they want to own a cake shop.”
“I remember really wanting to push the button when I was a kid, too.”
“This is so nice!”
“This happened to me when I was a kid! I fought with my brothers about it until my parents said, ‘Let your sister push it!’ But the driver let all of us push it anyways. I’m so thankful when the world is this kind.”

We’re sure all the other passengers on the bus @bamse_lotta was on were grateful for the driver’s ability to turn an annoying situation into a funny one. But on the off chance you don’t have a bus driver as kind as this one, you might want to consider buying your own bus button.

Sources: Hachima Kikou, Twitter/@bamse_lotta
Images: Flickr/hans-johnson
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