12:00
Saturday, April 4
The Meetup
At the Marunouchi exit! Where's everyone ๐
Here! Standing under the big dome ceiling
Same, I can see you guys from here
Marco? You close?
On the train, 10 minutes! ๐
12:20
20 minutes later
Wrong Exit
It's been 20 minutes lol, the blossoms aren't going to wait for you
Sorry, got off on the wrong side, I'm at the station now
Tokyo Station has like 200 exits, good luck ๐
12:40 PM
...Marco?
Marco are you seeing this
๐
Tokyo Station โ Yaesu North ExitLocation shared ยท last updated 12:41 PM
ok that's the wrong side, that's like a 15 min walk from us
Marco just walk toward Marunouchi, follow the signs
1:05
23 minutes of silence
Radio Silence
ok I'm actually getting a little worried now
his location hasn't updated since 12:41
I tried calling, it went straight to voicemail
his battery must be dead
should we go looking for him? Tokyo Station is honestly a maze
let's give him a bit longer โ if his phone's dead there's nothing he can do anyway
1:38 PM
โ
1:40 PM
The Full Story
I'm SO sorry, I'm coming, five minutes
my phone died right after I sent that location, I've been looking for a charger for like half an hour
wait why didn't you just ask someone for directions
I did! but then I found this obaachan who looked really lost and upset, her hearing aid wasn't working and she couldn't read the platform screen
I couldn't just leave her like that
walked her all the way to the JR staff office, they called her daughter, she was fine in the end
then a clerk at a kiosk let me charge my phone behind the counter for five minutes, that's how I'm even texting now
๐ท
Photo shared by MarcoAn elderly woman waving, cherry blossoms behind her
ok you're forgiven
more than forgiven, that's the most Marco thing that's ever happened
we saved you a spot under the good tree. hurry up ๐ธ
Marco arrived eleven minutes later, out of breath and still apologizing. Nobody was really angry. Somewhere between the dead battery, the wrong exit, and a stranger's broken hearing aid, the story had turned into something better than a simple case of someone being late.
They spent the rest of the afternoon under the cherry blossoms at Chidorigafuchi, and Marco's photo of the obaachan waving goodbye became, without anyone planning it, the best photo of the entire day.