Restaurant manager's 'free food if you wash dishes' policy touches hungry students
Sadahiro Inoue
"Those of you who cannot afford to pay for your meal: eat your fill here."
It has been 27 years since Sadahiro Inoue put up the sign on his storefront.
During peak lunch and dinner hours, he treats students who have promised to wash dishes for 30 minutes after eating to a meal at his restaurant complete with a large helping of rice.
About a decade has passed since Inoue started working at the Demachi outlet of the Gyoza no Osho pot-sticker dumpling chain, close to Kyoto University and Doshisha University in Kyoto's Kamigyo Ward, and the eatery's 59-year-old store manager has become an institution among students.
Inoue moved to Osaka when he eloped at the age of 20. When he and his wife were struggling to put food on the table, an elderly couple invited them to share meals with them. Inoue was touched. Today, he can't help but see a little bit of himself in the hungry students that come to his restaurant. The storefront sign represents his heartfelt desire to be of help to struggling young people.
At times, when students are busy studying for certification exams, for example, and have no time to take on part-time jobs, five or more students can be found washing dishes at the restaurant in one day. Inoue is delighted when a former frequent dishwasher comes back to report that he has passed an exam, thanks to Inoue. Among his former dishwashers, there are even three lawyers. "I hope that former students will go on to do good deeds for others when they remember their dishwashing days," he says.
Inoue keeps all the business cards that former dishwashers have given him, and the wall by the cash register is covered with letters sent to him from those who have left Kyoto. "Your restaurant was our home away from home," one says. Another promises, "One day, I will save enough money for you to take a day off." Every time he re-reads these words of gratitude, Inoue says, he is inspired to continue working for as long as he is physically able.
sana meron ding ganito sa pinas para makatulong sa mga estudyante kaya lang inisip ko............paano kung may mabasag na pinggan? ibabawas sa kinain?.............he he he
