The epitome of “to serve and protect.”
Japanese citizen and twitter user @Cbr600rr_nc23k shared this heartwarming moment earlier this week of a Japanese police officer literally offering up his own shoelaces after losing one of his own in a motorcycle accident that presumably happened moments before.
Check out his post below.
ちょっと事故って靴紐どっか行っちゃったからなんか紐持ってないですか？ってお巡りさんに聞いたら、自分の靴から靴紐とってあげてた? pic.twitter.com/b9woCwll2z
— たたまる (@cbr600rr_nc23k) August 3, 2022
The translation reads,
“I lost my shoelaces in an accident, so do you have any laces? When I asked the police officer, he took the shoelaces from his shoes.”
Since @CBR600rr_mc23k tweeted out his post its been shared (Retweets and Quote Tweets) over 13,000 times with over 130,000 likes and 500+ comments and counting.
Before he lost his shoelaces, according to an earlier tweet, it looks like he was just enjoying a bit of summertime ice cream with some fellow motorcyclists.
サーティーワン食べきた pic.twitter.com/UMY1xAdGZs
— たたまる (@cbr600rr_nc23k) August 3, 2022
According to Motorcycle Forums, motorcyclists often lose their shoelaces when one of the loops gets caught in a peg or on the shifter in the middle of the ride causing either the rider to fall or a lace to snap off.
It’s not clear how @CBR600rr_mb23k lost his, the particulars not noteworthy to add to his tweet.
A shoelace-less boot can spell disaster for his ride back home, a shoe coming off could mean resorting to operating his bike’s shifter with just a sock-covered foot.
Thankfully, this cop was more than resourceful, he was, as mentioned, selfless, offering up one of his own shoelaces.
“In reality, there are probably many police officers like this,” @amaterasu9020 replied to his tweet. “Those stories may not make the news, so I don’t hear about them.”
According to a CBS report on Japanese police earlier this year, their national police force is often described as “casual, friendly, and ever helpful.”
A model of community policing, Japanese citizens often rely on police for everyday help, from asking directions to asking police officers to “lending carfare to cash-strapped commuters.”
After reading about how Japanese police are seen as friendly mailmen rather than imposing lawmen, this selfless act, while surprising, is just in a Japanese police officer’s nature.
While this reinforces how everything Japan is somehow better than the equivalent in another country, I’m sure selfless acts like this are carried out by cops all over the world in spite of examples of police negligence and incompetence that’s more likely to make headlines.
Bravo to this Japanese police officer for going above and beyond in one of the smaller ways.
