A picture of two women embracing in a Brazilian subway station is going viral after a commenter expressed his outrage — for a rather different reason than you might expect.
Nelson Felippe, who according to his Facebook profile works at Google and lives in Rio de Janeiro, posted the following post on Tuesday evening. It shows two young women, standing on the platform, in a casual hug. But, it's the comment that went viral.
Não sou preconceituoso, acho que cada um faz o que quer da sua vida. Mas acho um absurdo eu ser obrigado a presenciar...
Posted by Nelson Felippe on Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Roughly translated from Portuguese, it reads:
"I am not prejudiced, I think everyone does what they want in your life. But, I find it absurd that I have to witness a scene like this. What you do in private is your decision, but what you do in public concerns me, and I refuse to see a scene like this and consider it normal."
Are you rolling your eyes yet? Keep reading. He then goes on to say: "Worst of all is the example it sets for the children. What will happen to a kid that sees this? He'll think it's totally normal to wait for the train on the wrong side of the safety line. Instead, he should follow the example of those two girls, who are standing safely away from train."
It seems his message — about the importance of subway safety — really hit a nerve. The post has been liked and shared by thousands of people, at first in Brazil and now around the world.
After all, a speeding train could kill you. Two women hugging each other? Not so much.