Grandfather Who Brought a Bouquet at Dawn, Heartwarming Reversal 3 Hours Later

In the early dawn, the touching story of an elderly man who took a bouquet from a flower shop without paying was revealed. Recently, a story shared by a flower shop in Jinju-si, Gyeongnam, on the 18th has spread across online communities. The flower shop posted on their social media account, "An elderly man wearing a hat took a bouquet from our unmanned store at dawn without making a payment," along with surveillance footage from the store.

[Image source=Online community capture]

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In the video, around 6 a.m. on the 4th, an elderly man wearing an orange coat entered the shop. He spent quite some time looking around the flower shop, selecting flowers. After wandering for about 10 minutes, he picked up a bouquet of roses and baby's breath from the glass display case and walked out of the store.

The shop is staffed from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., but operates unmanned during other hours. To purchase flowers outside staffed hours, customers must pay via a kiosk. In other words, there was no staff present when the elderly man visited, and not knowing how to use the kiosk, he left the store without paying.

The elderly man did not intend to steal the flowers. Around 9 a.m., three hours later, he returned to the flower shop and paid the staff 30,000 won for the flowers. He apologized, saying, "It was my wife's birthday, and I wanted to give her flowers, but I didn't know how to use the kiosk, so I just took them," and "I'm sorry for unintentionally taking them without paying."

The flower shop stated, "He waited until we opened the door and came to pay," adding, "It was touching but also saddening." They also said, "We wrote that bank transfers are possible in case the kiosk is difficult to use, but elderly customers still find that hard," and "We often receive calls from elderly customers during unmanned hours saying they can't make payments, and in those cases, we tell them to leave cash under the flowerpot or in the door gap."

They continued, "We hope the elderly gentleman visits again without any burden. We will prepare many more beautiful bouquets," expressing their gratitude.

According to the 2022 Digital Information Gap Report by the Korea Intelligent Information Society Agency, the digital information competency level of people in their 60s is only 56.7% of the average, and for those aged 70 and above, it is just 34.6%. While unmanned payments are increasing, there are concerns about the difficulties elderly people face in using digital technologies such as kiosks.

Netizens who read the story responded with comments like, "It made me cry because he reminds me of my father. Recently, a 'kiosk education course' for the elderly was introduced at the community center, and he was considering taking it," "Introducing kiosks is not bad, but other payment methods should definitely be provided for elderly people," and "He was very careful in choosing the flowers, which seemed strange if he intended to steal. The elderly man is really admirable."

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