Sentence in the present tense when the text is in the past tense?


> ゲームをやめるとグループから外されるんじゃないかといつも不安でした。 **不安になった日の翌朝は、友だちにすごく優しくするんです。**
> そうやって友だちに奉仕して、関係を無理矢理にでもうまくつなごうとしていました。いつの間にか友だちづきあいに疲れてしまっていましたね([source](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/web_tokushu/2018_0919.html?utm_int=tokushu-
> new_contents_list-items_004))

I don't understand why the past tense isn't used for 優しくする(=>優しくした)?




That sentence in bold is an example of historical present, as the sentence
describes his habitual behavior in the past. It's not to be confused with
relative tense [described
here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/25376/5010). It's hard to logically
describe when historical present is employed, but in this specific case, the
intention is clear; he used it to emphasize the sentence with vividness and
emotion.

See:

  * [Why did the author briefly jump to present tense in this article?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/23349/5010)
  * [Negative present endings translated as past tense](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/53760/5010)
  * [i am confusesd as to what historical present tense is, when it is used, etc](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/55536/5010)




That sentence in bold is an example of historical present, as the sentence
describes his habitual behavior in the past. It's not to be confused with
relative tense [described
here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/25376/5010). It's hard to logically
describe when historical present is employed, but in this specific case, the
intention is clear; he used it to emphasize the sentence with vividness and
emotion.

See:

  * [Why did the author briefly jump to present tense in this article?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/23349/5010)
  * [Negative present endings translated as past tense](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/53760/5010)
  * [i am confusesd as to what historical present tense is, when it is used, etc](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/55536/5010)

