Bus Driver Shows Kindness to Passenger with Insufficient Balance... Passenger Leaves with 10,000 Won and a Handwritten Letter

Processed as Child Fare After Insufficient Balance Notice
Handwritten Letter Included with a 10,000 Won Bill

A story has emerged about a city bus driver in Seoul who showed consideration for a passenger with insufficient balance and later received a warm gesture of gratitude from that passenger. On September 16, a post titled "A Precious Gift from a Passenger" was shared on an online community. According to the post, Mr. Kang, who drives the No. 160 city bus in Seoul, recently picked up a middle-aged female passenger at Mapo Police Station. When the passenger tapped her card, the machine announced "Insufficient balance." The passenger tried to pay with a 10,000 won bill, but cash payments were not accepted on that bus.

A bus driver who picked up a passenger with insufficient balance received a gift from the passenger. Online community

After confirming that the passenger's card had a remaining balance of 700 won, Mr. Kang said, "This time, I'll process it as a child fare (550 won)," showing his consideration. When the passenger got off, she handed Mr. Kang a small piece of paper folded several times. It was only when he reached the final stop that he unfolded the paper to find a handwritten letter and a 10,000 won bill inside.

The passenger, who identified herself as "someone heading to Samyang-dong," wrote in the letter, "I lost my mobile phone in Mapo, and within less than 10 minutes, I found it at the police station's lost and found center. Someone kindly brought it to the center. Also, I was grateful for your kindness in letting me pay the child fare when my card balance was insufficient." She continued, "There was no place to donate a piggy bank at the Mapo Police Station civil affairs office. Since I received such kindness in two places today, I feel I must do something in return. Driver, please have a refreshing drink with your friend. Thank you very much."

Mr. Kang said, "When I told the company manager, he said that since the gift was given out of gratitude by the passenger, I should keep it, and gave me permission. Reading the letter, I was relieved that she was able to quickly recover her lost mobile phone thanks to another citizen, and she must have felt proud that the issue with her card balance was resolved quickly when she boarded my bus. I felt even prouder. I was exhausted after work, but thanks to this precious gift, I felt re-energized." Those who read the story online commented, "A small act of consideration that prevented embarrassment turned into a great emotional impact," "This is what happiness from 10,000 won looks like," and "I usually only see unpleasant news, but stories like this make me feel the world is still a good place."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.