A 17-year-old boy with cerebral palsy set up a stall to sell popcorn for the first time, and his mother gave support to passers-by: The child is very strong and can't sell it, for fear that he will have low self-esteem
17-year-old Tao Tao (pseudonym) has suffered from cerebral palsy since he was a child, resulting in insubordination and slurred speech in his hands and feet. Recently, he independently set up a stall to sell popcorn on the streets of Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and his mother, Ms. Yao, secretly stuffed money to ask passers-by to buy support, which attracted attention.
On November 4, Ms. Yao told a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily that this was the first time the child had set up a stall independently, because the child was very strong and needed encouragement and recognition, and she was worried that he would not be able to sell his popcorn and feel inferior, so she asked passers-by to help buy it. When one of the young men helped buy it, he paid for it himself, and paid 10 yuan for 5 yuan of popcorn. There was also a caring couple who ordered 100,000 yuan of popcorn and paid for it. "The popcorn will be delivered in batches over the course of a year, and I don't plan to use the money until it's all delivered. I don't want to accept donations, I just want to teach my child a trade and give him a way to make a living. ”
A 17-year-old boy with cerebral palsy went out into society for the first time and set up a stall selling popcorn independently
Ms. Yao's family has been coming to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province from Anhui Province for more than 10 years, running a haberdashery store that sells fruits, snacks and drinks, while her husband is an online ride-hailing driver. They have two sons, the eldest son Taotao is 17 years old this year and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, but Ms. Yao did not give up and took Taotao for treatment and rehabilitation since he was a child. "Although his hands and feet trembled so much, he didn't listen to orders, and he often fell when he walked, but he never cried."
In order to find a kindergarten for Taotao, she ran to all the kindergartens near her hometown, and promised that she would accompany her child to school, and she would be responsible for the accident. Even so, many kindergartens considered Taotao's special physical condition and were worried that they would not take good care of them in the kindergarten, and even affect other children, so they still rejected her. In the end, the principal of a kindergarten relented and agreed to let Taotao enroll. But it didn't take long for the school to inform me that I would take the child away because I was afraid that the child would not be responsible for an accident at school. ”
After starting the first grade, because Ms. Yao had to work and take care of the elderly at home, she could not accompany her around the clock, and Taotao also encountered many difficulties at school. "Once he fell off the school bus and fell quite badly, I was very distressed and worried that he would have another accident, so I had to let him drop out of school." Ms. Yao has always taken Taotao with her, but as she grew older, she could not always be with her children, so she began to think about how to let Taotao have her own life, her own friends and her income.
"I asked him if he would like to go out and set up a stall and sell the popcorn I made with him, and he was so happy that he nodded his head again and again and said 'yes.'" So, from October 30th, Tao Tao began to sell popcorn independently for the first time, which was the first time in his life that he left the sight of his mother and teachers and went to society.
According to the video taken by Ms. Yao, there is a bucket of packed popcorn on a small table on the street, and there is a sign behind it that reads "Popcorn is fried and sold now, 5 yuan a bucket", a boy stood next to him with a small speaker, and a voice shouted from the small speaker, "Popcorn is 5 yuan a bucket, come and have a look..." When someone comes over, Tao Tao will talk and gesture to introduce popcorn to customers, and guide customers to scan the code to pay.
The mother was worried that the child's popcorn would not be sold, and she had low self-esteem, so she secretly stuffed money and asked passers-by to buy popcorn
Ms. Yao told a reporter from Beiqing Daily that she went back to her own business after sending Taotao to set up a stall, but she could ride an electric car for three or four minutes to reach the child's stall. "He usually sets up a stall near the school or near the subway entrance, not too far away from me, and I will come to take a peek from time to time. I also try to choose a place guarded by security guards and greet the stall owners around me so that they can help me take a look. ”
Ms. Yao's concern for Taotao is not limited to this, she knows that children need to be strong, they need encouragement and recognition, and they may feel inferior if they can't sell popcorn. On the first day of setting up the stall, she secretly hid in a corner near Taotao's stall, and Sechantto passers-by went to Taotao's stall to buy popcorn to support him. "There was also a young man who gave an extra 5 yuan himself. I said to him, 'Handsome, can you do me a favor?' There's a little boy selling popcorn there at the entrance of the subway, I'll give you 5 yuan, you go buy a bucket of popcorn, and I'll give you this bucket of popcorn'. The other party readily agreed.
About ten minutes later, I went to his stall, and Tao Tao waved to me when he saw me, smiling brightly. He told me that one of his brothers bought a bucket and gave him 10 yuan, and he was very happy. I complimented him on him, 'You're wonderful, you're wonderful.'" Hearing this, he laughed so happily again. When I asked him if he was tired and if he wanted to go home, he said that he was not tired and would continue to sell. On the first day, he earned about thirty or forty yuan from his stall. ”
The loving couple ordered 100,000 yuan of popcorn and it will be delivered in batches within a year
Ms. Yao took a video of Taotao selling popcorn and posted it on her short video account, but she didn't expect it to attract the attention of many netizens, and some people left messages to buy popcorn on the spot to support. There was also a caring couple who came to the booth to watch Taotao and offered to order 20,000 copies of popcorn with a total price of 100,000 yuan.
Ms. Yao told a reporter from Beiqing Daily that Taotao's state in the past few days is much better than before, his hands and feet are not so shaky, he eats a lot of food, and he actively asks for fried popcorn and set up stalls every morning. After receiving attention, the number of orders at home surged, and she and Taotao were very tired, "but Taotao never complained, and it was worth it." ”
When she first learned that someone wanted to buy 100,000 yuan of popcorn, Ms. Yao was repulsed because she didn't want to accept donations. Later, the other party said, "Do we want to buy popcorn, don't you sell it", and she was relieved to accept the order when she heard this. "I discussed with them that the 20,000 servings of popcorn would be taken in batches over the next year. At the moment the other party has given us the money, but we are not going to use the money until all the popcorn is delivered. I haven't handed over the popcorn to someone else, so why am I embarrassed to use someone else's money? ”
With the care of caring people, Ms. Yao felt warmth and reduced her worries about the possibility of her children being rejected by society and not being able to support themselves. However, some netizens questioned that Ms. Yao should not post the child's video on the Internet, thinking that she made the video to make money. In this regard, Ms. Yao explained that at the beginning, the video was just to record the child's first step in life, but she didn't expect the video to become popular. "Any mother who sees such a big improvement in her child will have a sense of accomplishment and want to record it. If the purpose of making a video is to make money, so many caring people want to help me, I will definitely agree. ”
Ms. Yao told a reporter from Beiqing Daily that in order to make Taotao self-reliant, she tried to let the child pick up the plastic bottle, and the child was also very happy, and some netizens proposed to let Taotao sell sweet potatoes. But his hands were shaking so badly that how could he sell sweet potatoes? I'm going to leave him one day, hoping to teach him a craft so that he can live on his own, and I think popcorn is a good fit for him. ”
Ms. Yao said that she would like to apply to the relevant authorities for a love booth for Taotao, hoping that he can have a fixed place to sell popcorn. "I never want my child to be rich and rich, I just want him to live his life in peace and have a way to make a living on his own."
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Dai Youqing Intern Zhang Kexin