Kindness at the Lindbergh MARTA station went beautifully viral after Atlantan Redd Desmond Thomas posted this endearing image and message on his public Facebook page. The story behind the photo is even more wonderful than it seems.
Adelina and Al Alberghini of Dunwoody were coming home from the airport when she noticed a young man having trouble with his Windsor knot. She asked Al to get involved and he happily pitched in - and this is where the story gets super sweet.
"In the picture you’ll notice Addie has her back to me," her husband said. It seems the kindhearted Mr. Thomas wasn't the only one with a camera phone at the ready.
"Two other people came up with their cameras and said, 'oh, this a YouTube thing. We’re going to splash this all over the Internet (titled) Some fool doesn’t know how to tie a tie,'" Al said.
Adelina was having none of that.
"My wife used to be a teacher," said Al, a retired engineer. "She put her teacher face on and said, you are not going to put this on the Internet! You are not going to embarrass this young man!"
While Addie was busy fending off the shutterbugs with designs on embarrassing him, she and Al inadvertently became Internet stars. They've heard from friends all over the world.
"I’m not famous," Al demurred with a chuckle. "My goodness. We were just trying to help a young man out and never gave it a thought beyond that."
They didn't get their new friend's name but said he was very nice. They'd like to meet up again. Does anyone recognize him? Email me at jbrett@ajc.com!
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