Dutch PM Mark Rutte cycles to work, wins hearts, again
What's the story
If there's one lesson to learn from the Dutch Prime Minister, it is humility. With his simple actions, 51-year-old Mark Rutte has, many a times, become the leader everyone loves. The latest in the long list is Rutte, dressed in casual jeans and shirt, cycling his way to work. Karel van Oosterom, permanent representative of Netherlands in UN, shared the picture, which went viral.
Rutte and cycles
This is not the first time Rutte cycled to headlines
Notably, this is not the first time Rutte's cycle-to-work action has grabbed people's attention. In October, last year, he had cycled to the palace to meet King Willem-Alexander, and inform him about his decision to form a government. There wasn't a cavalcade of security, cars, etc., around Rutte, the country's PM since 2010. Our leaders should definitely take a leaf from his book.
#PMGoals
Once he spilled coffee and cleaned it himself
Earlier this year, Rutte spilled coffee as he was entering the Parliament, and instead of waiting for staff to clean it up, he picked the mop himself. Rutte happily did the job, as the cleaning staff looked surprised. The video, of course, went viral and everyone just fell in love with him. Small actions go a long long way!
Twitter Post
The video of Rutte cleaning his own mess, literally!
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte dropped his coffee cup today in Parliament, then cleaned up the mess himself under loud cheers of the Parliament's cleaners. pic.twitter.com/hHhcP24YHQ
— Cees Van Beek 🇳🇱 (@ceesvanbeek) June 4, 2018
Reactions
Are you wondering why Rutte isn't wearing helmet? Here's why
Oosterom's tweet highlighting he loved the Netherlands because of Rutte's actions, got 14.7K Retweets and 37K likes, at the time of press. A Twitter user @DeanDonaldButt asked: Where are his 83 bodyguards?, and Oosterom replied, he doesn't have them. When many pointed out Rutte was sans helmet, Oosterom replied, "We do not do helmets in the Netherlands. Infrastructure protects cyclists." Kudos to him!