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President Obama comments on Humans of New York photo

(Facebook/Humans of New York)

The President of the United States took time out of his busy schedule to do something many of us common folk do a few times a day: he left a comment on a Facebook photo.

Barack Obama felt compelled to post his remarks on a photo posted by Humans of New York, the Facebook page of the popular blog and bestselling book that feature portraits and interviews of people on the street.

The shot, taken in Tabriz, Iran, as opposed to the photographer’s usual New York City portraits, shows a man and his son reclining outdoors on pillows.

The caption reads: “Today’s his tenth birthday. He’s a very emotional young man. He likes to solve other people’s problems. One time when he was five years old, he came with me to the store and we bought two pounds of fresh apricots. I let him carry the bag home. He walked a little bit behind me the entire way. After awhile, I asked him to hand me an apricot. ‘I can’t,’ he said. ‘I’ve given them all away.’ I knew then that I was raising a humanitarian.

Mr. President was so moved by the story that he chimed in via the White House Facebook account: What an inspirational story. One of the most fulfilling things that can happen to you as a parent is to see the values you’ve worked to instill in your kids start to manifest themselves in their actions – and this one really resonated with me. I hope this young man never loses his desire to help others. And I’m going to continue doing whatever I can to make this world a place where he and every young person like him can live up to their full potential. (And if I ever get to meet him, I hope he’ll save me an apricot!) –bo

The photo has been liked more than 480,000 times, including one from Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and Obama’s comment has gotten more than 120,000 thumbs up.