Earlier this month, a tweet about potato salad exploded on Japanese Twitter.
The writer of the tweet was at a supermarket when she heard someone say, "If you're a mother, why don't you at least make your own potato salad?!" She turned around and saw a woman with a toddler in tow at the prepared food section, and an elderly man — the one who had uttered those words — quickly stomping off. The woman stood there for a while, stunned, looking at the packet of potato salad in her hand. The tweeter then walked over to the woman with her own daughter and picked up two packs of potato salad, to silently show solidarity.
As of writing, the tweet has over 390,000 likes and more than 133,000 retweets. It has sparked a huge backlash, especially from women, against the man who spat those words at a total stranger and others like him. It has also been discussed by various news outlets.
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