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HORWICH, England — Eighteen-year-old grocery store employees aren’t looked up to as pillars of society, but a picture that has gone viral might change that.
Christian Trouesdale works at Aldi, a supermarket chain in Horwich, where an elderly man shops. One particularly blustery day the man was afraid to walk home and Trouesdale volunteered to assist the man home.
According to The Bolton News, the local newspaper, Trouesdale said, "I asked my manager if it was OK to walk him home and he said that was the right thing to do, so I did.”
The small act of kindness from Trouesdale, and the manager for allowing it, was noticed by an employee at Jons Fish Bar, which is across the street.
According to Mashable, Samantha-Jayne Brady spotted the pair during that windy walk. The following week the elderly man returned to the store, and while it wasn’t windy, asked if Trouesdale would walk him home again, Trouesdale obliged.
This time Brady took the opportunity to snap a photo of them walking home. She wanted to share this small good deed with as many as she could. Little did she know that photo would go viral and be seen worldwide.
"I really didn't expect it to be seen by such a broad audience but the comments for Christian, his parents and for Aldi have been amazing,” Brady told The Bolton News.
Now the Facebook post with the photo of Trouesdale with the man has been shared just under 77,000 times and has more than 287,000 likes.
The comments and new-found fame have been odd for Trouesdale. This wasn’t something he did for fame. He had a chat with the old man and enjoyed the walks.
“It is very strange because this is just something I would normally do, my parents have raised me to treat other people like you want to be treated yourself,” Trouesdale said to The Bolton News.
