By JAY ALABASTER and KELLY OLSEN
Associated Press
TAGAJO, Japan – Close to the epicenter of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, workers at a warehouse hauled out cans of coffee and soda this week to offer to passers-by for free.
“Help yourself! Take what you need!” they yelled as they put box after box on the sidewalk. Their boss Kazuyoshi Chiba said the phone lines are down, so he can’t reach company headquarters, but “I think this is the right thing to do.”
With the same mixture of resilience and resignation that has lifted Japan out of previous disasters, many survivors of last Friday’s calamity are calmly pitching in to help themselves and others, taking life one day at a time. Four days on, there is little of the public anger and frustration that so often bursts forth in other countries.