Heavy rains brought flooding to parts of Hong Kong this week, but that was not enough not to stop one elderly man from enjoying his newspaper and coffee.
A photo showing the old man sitting unaffected in a flooded Starbucks outlet in Chai Wan district went viral after TV Most shared it on their Facebook page. A caption in Chinese on their post read: “Huh? The newspaper said that it would be raining today! But I forgot to bring my umbrella.”
The sentiment resonated with Facebook users also tackling the floods, generating more than 18,000 reactions and 1,500 comments.
The moment was captured by Kristy Chan, a 23-year-old medical worker. She told the BBC she was taking photos to show her family how bad the floods were, and came across the man, seated near the entrance to a mall. “Of course I didn’t expect it would go viral,” Ms Chan said, adding that there were actually many people seated inside the cafe.
“It was quite funny. Maybe he already has that many life experiences so the flood didn’t bother him at all.”
Along with the witty dialogue, the Hong Kong news site also encouraged people to send in their comments and Photoshop designs. Excited and amused Hong Kongers also shared its picture more than 2,000 times.
“For the price of a Starbucks coffee, you can also experience what it’s like to be in Venice,” joked Facebook user James Chan in Hong Kong.
Another said: “See, it’s just rain – nothing to fear. I’m not ever going to panic about floods again. Just chill like him.”
Talk surrounding the picture also spread to mainland China, where amused netizens on popular Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo shared their comments.
“Rain rain go away, this old grandfather can’t have his coffee another day,” wrote Weibo user Sze Yun.
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