You’d be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t “like” or comment on Humans of New York’s feel good Facebook posts. And now President Barack Obama has come out as a HONY fan, commenting on the above post about a father and his compassionate son.
Humans of New York proprietor Brandon Stanton has been posting photos over the past few weeks from Iran. The post that President Obama chose to comment on is from the northwestern city of Tabriz. The accompanying story is told from the perspective of the father, who bought apricots with his son one day and let him carry them on their way home. As the son lagged a little bit behind, the father asked him for an apricot: ” ‘I can’t, he said. ‘I’ve given them all away.’ I knew then that I was raising a humanitarian.”
Posting from the White House’s official Facebook account, Obama pledges to help foster a world where the son can grow up and continue to help people:
What an inspirational story. One of the most fulfilling things that can happen to you as a parent is to see the values you’ve worked to instill in your kids start to manifest themselves in their actions – and this one really resonated with me. I hope this young man never loses his desire to help others. And I’m going to continue doing whatever I can to make this world a place where he and every young person like him can live up to their full potential. (And if I ever get to meet him, I hope he’ll save me an apricot!) -bo
Humans of New York melts my cold, cynical heart on a daily basis. Having the President of the United States post something so heartfelt on one of its photos makes this project even more moving.
Here’s another great comment:
Obama isn’t the first politician to do this, though. Back in July, Hillary Clinton left a comment on the photo of a boy who was afraid of his future because he was gay.
(Via Humans Of New York / The White House)