From the archives: This story was last updated in April 2019.
Back in the 16th century, Croatians wore a cravat (or tie) around their neck as part of their traditional costumes, according to Tour Dalmatia. The cravat eventually caught the attention of King Louis XIII of France, who adopted the fashion.In modern times, the tie has become a decorative accessory to go along with suits. Wearing a tie around the neck always makes a man look sharp and professional. However, tying a necktie can be difficult for some people if they are first-time tie wearers.
The young man in this viral story was one such example.
While sitting on a bench at the Lindbergh Center MARTA station in Atlanta, Georgia, in November 2015, a man, dressed to the nines, was having trouble tying his tie.
Just when the young man was struggling to figure out how to fix his tie, an elderly woman, who was waiting for the train with her husband, jumped in to help him.
The elderly woman, wearing a red coat, kindly approached him and asked, “Do you know how to tie it properly?”
The young man replied, “No ma’am.”
The elderly woman immediately tapped her husband and told him, “Come to this side and teach this young man how to tie his tie.”
Her husband complied and came to the young man’s side to give him a necktie lesson.
Despite not knowing the young man, the elderly couple took the time to teach him to tie his tie. Indeed, very sweet.
This lovely interaction was captured on camera by commuter Redd Desmond Thomas before he got on the train.
He recalled the whole encounter, writing: “The older gentleman moved without hesitation [almost a reflex response] and gave him a step-by-step tutorial; then - afterward - the elder gentleman watched the young gentleman repeat the steps and show him that he had it.”
“I was some distance away (but close enough to hear the exchange), and got even closer to snap this candid photo of the tutorial in progress before hopping on the train,” he continued.
“I LOVE THIS!” he ended with an exclamation.
And so did the over 981,000 social media users who reacted to the post.
Thomas’s post spread like wildfire, eliciting an enormous response from netizens.
“This is the world that I choose to live in," one user wrote.
Another remarked: “What really catches me is how she seems to be shielding them as to not embarrass the kid for needing help... this is amazing!!!!”
“Years later and this STILL makes my heart smile! I simply love gestures like these,” another commented.
We couldn’t agree more. A touching moment like this is what makes life beautiful.
The caring couple, whose kind gesture warmed the hearts of tens of thousands of people across the globe, were later identified as Alfred and Adelina Alberghini, of Dunwoody, Georgia.
The Alberghinis were honored by the transit agency for their kindness on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, during the annual State of MARTA Breakfast.
The netizens were right. Adelina was indeed shielding the young man that day.
Adelina said she noticed people whipping out their phones as they gave the gentleman a helping hand.
Unbeknownst to her, Thomas snapped a photo from the other side.
Even lovelier, the couple’s act of kindness continued when they hopped on the train with the young man.
Wanting to make sure the youngster had mastered the tie-tying skills, Alfred undid the tie and told him to tie it by himself while on the train.
“I didn’t think it was anything special. I was giving the young man a hand and that’s all there was to it,” Alfred said.
Alfred and Adelina only knew that they had become famous for their kind deed when their nephew sent them an email with the viral picture.
Their nephew told them, “It’s official, you’re Imarnternet famous and it’s going viral.”
“We had no concept of what going viral really meant until our relatives in Italy saw it, friends in Korea told us it had hit there. It had hit the UK on several websites there,” said Adelina, who didn’t get the young man’s name and assumed that he was going to work.
The news that the random act of kindness had gone viral caught Alfred and Adelina by surprise because it was simply “the right thing to do.”
Adelina said, “We were where we were supposed to be, doing what we were supposed to do.”
“We saw him with a problem and we could help him. It was that simple,” Alfred said.
Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Alberghini for showing us how beautiful the world would be if we could serve one another through love. If you see a man having trouble tying his tie, would you lend him a helping hand?
