HONG KONG, Oct 22 — A Hong Kong man dubbed ‘Starbucks Uncle’ has become an unlikely source of inspiration.
The photo shot by medical worker Kristy Chan depicting an elderly man reading his newspaper nonchalantly in a flooded Hong Kong Starbucks cafe has become the latest social media hit, after it was shared by Hong Kong news site TV Most on their Facebook page.
The accompanying caption in Chinese read: “Huh? The newspaper said that it would be raining today! But I forgot to bring my umbrella.”
At the time of writing, the post has received more than 20,000 comments, with some lauding Starbucks Uncle as “the bravest of us all” and “the only person who makes sense in 2016.”
Hong Kong was pounded with heavy rains and major flooding this week — but it would appear that Starbucks Uncle took it in his stride as he continued to enjoy his newspaper and coffee.
Either that, or he had a mad craving for a Venti Latte Macchiato that he just couldn’t shake.
Chan told the BBC that she was taking photos to show her family how bad the floods were when she came across the man seated near the entrance to a mall.
“Of course, I didn’t expect it would go viral,” she was quoted as saying, before 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.”
The antics of Starbucks Uncle are reminiscent of the viral shot of a woman in Taiwan wrestling with her umbrella while enjoying her pork bun as Typhoon Megi swirled around her in September.
