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His classmates wouldn’t sign his yearbook. He signed it himself. Then Paul Rudd got involved.

When the older kids saw his yearbook, they showed up and made him a legend.

By

Adam Albright-Hanna

bullying, kindness, school, community, Paul Rudd
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons – Photo of a high school; (Inset) Paul Rudd

When Brody Ridder came home from school on May 24, 2022, his mom took one look at his yearbook and felt her heart crack open. He’d asked all kinds of kids to sign it. Two had. Two teachers had. And then, on one of the pages, in his own handwriting: “Hope you make some more friends. — Brody Ridder.”

He had signed his own yearbook. And then wished himself better luck next year.

Cassandra Ridder posted a photo of the page to the school’s private Facebook parent group that night. She didn’t ask Brody first, but as she told the Washington Post, she knew he’d be fine with it. “Brody has always told me he wants to be part of the solution.” Her message to other parents was simple: talk to your kids about kindness. She had no idea what was about to happen.

Other parents showed the post to their kids. Seventeen-year-old Joanna Cooper got a text from her mom with a screenshot and made a decision on the spot, as she told KDVR. “We’re going to sign his yearbook,” she said, “because no kid deserves to feel like that.” She started texting friends. Meanwhile, Simone Lightfoot, also an 11th grader, was doing the same thing. “When I was younger, I was bullied a lot like him,” she told the Washington Post. “We walked in and we were like, ‘Where’s Brody at? Is Brody Ridder in here?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, he’s in the back.’ And we’re like, ‘Brody! We’re here to sign your yearbook, bud.’”

The older kids didn’t just sign their names. As Goalcast reported in its coverage, they asked Brody about his hobbies, which turned out to include chess and fencing, and gave him a pep talk. Many of them had been in similar situations at his age. Once the upperclassmen started filling pages, the kids in Brody’s own class started getting up from their seats to sign it too. “It was like a domino effect,” Cassandra told Fox News. “It was beautiful.” By the end of the day, Brody had collected more than 100 signatures, paragraphs of encouragement, and a handful of phone numbers.

“It just made me feel better as a person,” Brody told KDVR. “I don’t know how to explain it. It just makes me feel better on the inside.”

The story didn’t stay local for long. After Cassandra posted an update to her personal Facebook, it spread widely. Letters started arriving at the Ridders’ P.O. Box from people across the country and around the world, people of all ages who recognized something in Brody’s story. By July, at least 600 letters had arrived, with more still coming, including one dictated by a three-year-old to his mom.

Among those who reached out was Paul Rudd. According to the Denver Post, Rudd’s sister saw Cassandra’s post and contacted her to say the actor would love to connect with Brody. Rudd FaceTimed him and sent a care package that included a signed Ant-Man helmet and a handwritten note telling Brody that things get better and that many people, Rudd included, thought he was “the coolest kid there is.”

Cassandra and Brody have since partnered with The UGLI Foundation, an anti-bullying nonprofit, to keep the conversation going, according to the Denver Post. Cooper, the 11th grader who organized the original yearbook visit, said she planned to push for a schoolwide signing event the following year so no student would face an empty book again.

Brody said he’s not sure all the kids who refused to sign will become his friends. But something shifted. “It made me feel like there’s hope for the school,” Cassandra said, “there’s hope for humanity, and there are a lot of good kids in this world.”

This article originally appeared two years ago.

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  • Gen Xers share 17 nostalgic dishes they ate growing up—and still make for dinner
    Photo credit: Image via Reddit – A family enjoys dinner during the 1970s.
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    Gen Xers share 17 nostalgic dishes they ate growing up—and still make for dinner

    From sloppy joes to pizza bread, these dishes still slap.

    Emily Shiffer

    Upworthy Staff

    Generation X (those born between 1965-1980) grew up eating classic Americana meals. During the 1970s, comfort meals like tuna casserole and salmon roquettes were popular meals.

    Gen X also grew up eating some pretty unhinged (but all the more yummy) sandwiches. These meals are steeped in childhood nostalgia.

    And to this day, Gen Xers are still fond of their favorite dishes they grew up eating. Together, they discussed on Reddit their most-loved home-cooked dishes that they still whip up, starting with sloppy joes.

    Here are 17 iconic Gen X comfort meals to keep in mind the next time you make dinner:

    @genx_shawn

    🤤😂 Top 10 Things ONLY GenX Knows the Taste Of… #genx #over50club #genxtiktok #over40 #genxcrew #generationx #genxers #genxtok #over40club #over50

    ♬ original sound – Shawn | GenX

    “Breakfast. We will have a ‘breakfast for dinner’ at least a couple times a month. Yum!” – fadeanddecayed, KddKc

    “Pizza bread! My mom would cut Italian bread into pieces, put butter and garlic salt on them, then pour some spaghetti sauce on them, cover with mozzarella cheese, and broil for like ten or fifteen minutes. Super easy and quick to make and so tasty. I’m sure my mom loved that I was so into something that took roughly zero effort for her to make.” – hornybutired

    “Grilled cheese and soup.” – reincarnateme

    “Meat loaf. I use 2 pounds ground beef, replace bread crumbs with minute rice, add 1 pkg beef soup flavoring, chop an entire onion for it, and mix BBQ sauce into mixture. Oh, important: do not overmix! Place all ingredients into bowl, then mix quickly 10 or 12 swirls of a large spoon. Grease loaf pan, carefully place mixture in, pat down & bake about an hour. (Extra info: for even better flavor, mix the night before, pat into loaf pan, cover with plastic, put into fridge overnight. Remove from fridge about an hour before baking. BE SURE TO REMOVE PLASTIC WRAP! [Esp. If in Pyrex glass loaf pan])” – jehardt, AbbyM1968

    “White guy tacos.” – najing_ftw

    “Skillet dinner. Kielbasa, bell pepper, onion, spuds in a cast iron pan. One dish. Easy peasy.” – UnimportantOutcome67

    “Chicken pot pie or chicken ala king.” – sattersnaps

    “Fried catfish, greens, and red beans and rice.” – User Unknown

    “Shepherds pie, technically cottage pie if it’s ground beef. Homemade enchiladas, usually made as a layered casserole instead because I don’t have time to roll them. Pork chops with mashed potatoes and veggies.” – XerTrekker

    “Fried rice with chicken or pork leftovers.” – AlternativeResort181

    “Hot hamburgers: hamburger patty open face on Texas toast thickness bread, cover with fries then cover that with brown gravy. Wife’s variation is hamburger patty over rice with brown gravy.” – EnricoMatassaEsq

    @past_archives

    American Gen X Foods That Kids Today Can’t Understand#nostalgia #childhoodmemories #backtochildhood #90s #2000s #usa #80s #90skids #80schildhood #capcutforus #capcut #capcutpioneer #America

    ♬ original sound – Past Archives

    “Stuffed peppers. I make it much more easily by cooking it all in one large frying pan ‘deconstructed’. Sauté onions garlic and ground beef, add cut up peppers, tomatoes or tomato sauce, sometimes a little spinach, then add separately cooked rice, salt and pepper and serve. It comes together pretty quickly and tastes just as good as stuffing and baking peppers in the oven.” – Affectionate-Map2583

    “Macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dogs. Seriously, that’s what I ate tonight.” – Dazzling-Walrus9673

    “Homemade Stroganoff casserole. Ridiculously easy to make. Ingredients:

    1.25-1.5 lbs. Ground Beef
    1 each of large white onion, green pepper, and red pepper
    1 can mushroom pieces, drained and rinsed
    12 oz. Bag of wide egg noodles
    1 can cream of mushroom soup
    16 oz. Sour cream
    Worcestershire Sauce
    Louisiana Hot Sauce
    White or Black Pepper
    Panko bread crumbs

    To Make: Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Worcestershire, hot sauce, garlic powder, and pepper are all to taste, depending on how much flavor and punch you want it to have. Cook noodles per instructions. Drain. Peel and slice onion (not diced), core and cut peppers into strips Brown meat, onions and peppers along with liberal amount of Worcestershire; garlic, pepper, and hot sauce. Add mushrooms. Cook until meat is fully brown, onions are translucent and peppers are tender. Drain. Combine drained meat, etc. with whole can of soup, half of the sour cream. Gradually add noodles into the mix. Add sour cream as needed to maintain consistency. Add Worcestershire, hot sauce, and pepper to taste. Dump into large, deep Corning dish or whatever. Cover too with bread crumbs. Cover and bake for forty minutes.” – CynfullyDelicious

    This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

    This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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  • Heckler flirts with comedian on stage and it turns into a surprise masterclass on romantic chemistry
    Photo credit: Canva – Female comedian (left) Male audience member (right)
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    Heckler flirts with comedian on stage and it turns into a surprise masterclass on romantic chemistry

    “… and, that is how I met your mother.”

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    Dealing with hecklers just comes with the territory of being a comedian. But flirting with them? That wasn’t something Rebecca Reingold had prepared for. 

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    In the now-viral clip, Reingold shared a bit about not being “good” at flirting with men, saying that she would inadvertently “be mean” to them “because they liked it.”

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    Microphone against a blurry backdrop Photo credit: Canva

    Then, during the set, someone from the crowd must have been talking too enthusiastically, because Reingold playfully called them out for being loud. This someone, a man, responded that he was with his parents at the show, to which Reingold quipped, “You look bad. Your parents look a lot younger than you.”

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    “Damn she really turned red when she realised he listened.”

    “You handled this so well 👏🙌”

    “… and, that is how I met your mother.”

    “The fact that he did not drop the ‘I’ll shut up in exchange for your number’ line is mind boggling to me.”

    “So when’s the wedding. Lol”

    Romantic antagonism IRL

    Perhaps people were rallying for this interaction to lead to romantic entanglement because it resembles the ever-popular enemies-to-lovers trope found in countless rom-coms and romantasies. This dynamic of building attraction through animosity and tension makes for great entertainment…but does it make for healthy relationships in real life? The annoying but accurate answer is, of course: it depends.

    Primarily, it depends on a) whether both partners are enjoying the teasing and b) whether the jokes are landing in sensitive territory. If both those parameters are met, it can become its own love language. If not, then it can foster resentment. 

    This can obviously become even more complicated when it comes to flirting, since there is already a lot of indirect language happening between strangers. But at least in this case it looked like everyone was having a good time.

    Sadly, it has yet to be revealed whether or not Reingold and this heckler ever did connect after the show. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, be sure to give her a follow on Instagram to stay tuned on both her comedy stylings and, perhaps, her love life.  

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    40-something woman who grew up in foster care beats the odds in college graduation video

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    Cecily Knobler

    Jade Tompkins, who goes by @Craftyhag on social media, made a simple video on TikTok. In a moment of pure vulnerability, she humbly shared her story. What she might have felt was merely a cool accomplishment feels, to many of us watching, like a triumph.

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    ♬ original sound – Seyram Parku

    Beating the odds

    Tompkins takes a slight pause and adds, “I grew up in foster care, and a lot of people might not know this. But people in foster care–like less than 2 percent of them, I looked it up–of people in foster care go on to get a bachelor’s degree. I don’t know, maybe it’s just because I’m older.”

    And Tompkins is right. The numbers for people who experience life in foster care are extremely challenging. More recent numbers say only about 3-4% of people with a background in foster care end up graduating with a bachelor’s degree, compared with more than 30% of the general population, according to research.

    She takes a breath, seemingly letting the information she just shared sink in, even for herself. “Anyway, I just wanted to show you guys. I don’t even know if I’m gonna go to graduation, but I still got the stuff just in case.” She holds up a red, satin-looking sash. “This is my stole thing. And I got all these cords. And if I do go, I don’t know if I’m gonna wear them or not.”

    Her achievements are nothing short of incredible. “My grades are really good. I have almost a 3.9. And I’ve worked full time since I’ve been doing it, so that feels like a big accomplishment. And I joined student associations and stuff.”

    “You’re never too old to set another goal”

    Picking up her graduation hat, she shows off the colorful writing on top. “So this is my graduation hat. I had it made. It says, ‘You’re never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.’ So I thought that was kind of appropriate. And I already got accepted to a Master’s program, so I think that’s kind of cool.”

    She ends the video as humbly as she began it. “Anyway, I just wanted to share because I don’t really have a lot of people to share it with. And I guess if anyone sees it and thinks, ‘Hey, I should go back to school,’ and you have the means or the dream or wish to do it and think you can, whatever. I don’t know. Just thought I’d share.”

    “Walk for all of us!”

    Her story was exactly what a lot of people needed to hear. On TikTok alone, she has nearly 850,000 likes and almost 70,000 comments.

    “Foster kid to foster kid, please walk,” one person shared. “Walk for all of us! Walk for those of us that are still trying to find out confidence. Walk for those of us that are not sure if we should dream. Walk for those of us that want to see our own kind SHINE. Your shine will help to light another’s pathway. I can say that the Class of Foster Kids, we are proud of you! Keep going.”

    Even some corporations, like Hilton (and many others), jumped into the chat. They sent her a little gift, writing, “Jade, milestones like this deserve to be celebrated. DMing you as we’d like to send something sweet your way.”

    This TikToker might have summed up what so many seem to think: “1. You’re f-ing awesome! 2. That cap is f-ing awesome. 3. Damn, that’s a lot of cords. 4. Your TikTok friends are f-ing proud of you!”

    @craftyhag

    #Meme #MemeCut

    ♬ original sound – Notworthit

    According to an update posted just under a month later, Tompkins did attend and “walk” at graduation. Chyroned over a meme, she writes, “Me deciding to go to graduation because 700,000 people convinced me to go.”

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  • She got fired from her bank job on the way home, sat on the train, said a prayer. Her phone rang 15 seconds later.
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    She got fired from her bank job on the way home, sat on the train, said a prayer. Her phone rang 15 seconds later.

    Sometimes the way you treat people at the job you lost is what gets you the next one.

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    She had just been let go from her job as a bank teller. The mistake was an $800 error she couldn’t fix, and when she came back to work her manager told her she was done. She got on the train home feeling “so sad,” as she put it, and cried.

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    faith, job loss, viral, inspiration, TikTok
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    The man on the other end had a cheerful voice. His sister, he explained, had worked with her at the bank and spoken highly of her, perticularly her kindness and her service. Based on that, he thought she’d be a good fit for his company. She got the job that same day.

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    @ashp_tv

    Mustard seed faith STILL moves mountains. 🤍 #fyp #god #testimony #faith

    ♬ original sound – ASH P TV

    “All you need is faith,” she said. Whether you take that literally or as shorthand for something more like trust and openness, the story holds up either way.

    For more lifestyle content follow @ashp_tv on TikTok.

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    Tenant got a $2,500 check in the mail from an ex-landlord who sold the house.The note that came with it is something else.

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    You can follow Chris Robarge on Facebook.

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  • Anne Hathaway praised after casually dropping Arabic phrase in interview
    Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons – Hands writing in Arabic, left, and Anne Hathaway.
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    Anne Hathaway praised after casually dropping Arabic phrase in interview

    “Use it the way Anne Hathaway used it.”

    Heather Wake

    During an interview with People promoting the upcoming The Devil Wears Prada 2, Anne Hathaway was asked how she navigates growing older. She noted the importance of taking self-care seriously, remaining curious, and appreciating being in a place where you can assess decisions made earlier in life.

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    “I wanna have a long, healthy life. Inshallah, I hope so,” she casually but sincerely told her interviewer. The phrase, also spelled “insh’Allah,” translates to “if God wills” or “God willing,” and is deeply rooted in Islam.

    @people

    #AnneHathaway is embracing aging on her own terms and not getting swept up in the noise along the way. #WorldsMostBeautiful

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    However, it is also part of Arab culture in general. Religious or otherwise, people use it to convey resolute hope for the future while acknowledging that life follows its own plan.

    Bridge-building moment

    This ignited a positive frenzy online among Muslim and Arabic viewers, who were not only thrilled to hear the term used, but to hear it used correctly.

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    Perhaps the timing of this interview has also contributed to its virality. Just weeks ago at Coachella, Sabrina Carpenter received backlash for her “this is weird” reaction when fans began engaging in the Zaghrouta, a celebratory, high-pitched ululation traditionally used in Arab cultures.

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    As HuffPost contributor Syeda Khaula Saad put it, “It just feels nice to be represented in mainstream media in an accepting, inclusive light. I hope that we get to see much more, insha’Allah.”

    And as she pointed out, recently another Arabic word was brought into the mainstream when Muslim Egyptian American actor Ramy Youssef taught Elmo to say “habibi” (meaning “my love” or “my friend”) on an episode of Sesame Street.

    This seemed to have a similarly profound impact. 

    “We have been dehumanized, portrayed in the worst way by the media for years.. I swear to GOD elmo saying ‘habibi’ made me teary and somehow healed the inner child that has been called the worst things for being different growing up,” one viewer wrote on Instagram. 

    It goes to show that when it comes to respecting other cultures, it doesn’t take a grand gesture. Even a word, when said correctly and with genuine intent, can extend an olive branch.

    Perhaps this wisdom can be especially applied to mainstream media, where negative stereotypes run rampant alongside baffling overcorrections. Sometimes, it really is as simple as making space for what exists beyond your own lived experience and engaging with it.

    Whether or not you agree that Hathaway executed this perfectly, may we all agree that the world could use more people looking to build bridges rather than reject what’s unfamiliar. 

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  • A Gen Z passenger demanded his delayed flight take off immediately. When the gate agent heard why, he bought the man a ticket on a different airline.
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    A Gen Z passenger demanded his delayed flight take off immediately. When the gate agent heard why, he bought the man a ticket on a different airline.

    A gate agent who assumed the worst about an angry young passenger ended up spending $450 of his own money to get him home.

    Adam Albright-Hanna

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    A gate agent at an airport had a young man screaming at him that his flight needed to take off. The flight had been delayed due to weather. The agent gave his practiced apology and explained the situation. The young man kept pushing.

    The agent, who shares the story on Instagram Threads as @mr.freak_22_, had been doing this job long enough to develop a thick skin. He’d heard every version of the entitled passenger routine. He was preparing to hold the line.

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    “You don’t understand. My mom is in hospice. The nurse just called. She has maybe hours left. I just need to hold her hand one last time.”

    The agent’s entire calculation changed. His own airline had nothing available. He pulled out his personal phone and started searching competitor flights. He found one for $450, leaving from another terminal. He looked at the young man, who was hyperventilating, and didn’t ask him for the money. He just bought the ticket.

    “I printed the boarding pass, shoved it into his hand, and said, ‘Run to Terminal B. Gate 12. Go.’”

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    The young man ran.

    Two days later he called back and left a message. He’d made it in time.

    The agent posted about it because he wanted to push back on something he’d been thinking about. People assume gate agents are cold and robotic, just like people assume young men demanding things at airport counters are being entitled. Neither assumption held up that day. “Sometimes the rules don’t matter nearly as much as the reasons,” he wrote.

    You can follow the gate agent on Threads.

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  • 12 years ago, Kenan Thompson told ‘SNL’ he’d never perform in drag again. It launched careers.
    Photo credit: @SaturdayNightLive on YouTube – Saying no said "yes" for several comedy stars.
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    12 years ago, Kenan Thompson told ‘SNL’ he’d never perform in drag again. It launched careers.

    A refusal to portray women was the career nexus point of many Black women comedians.

    Erik Barnes

    Since childhood, Kenan Thompson has practiced his craft as a comedic actor and sketch performer. As an adult, he’s been making audiences laugh at Saturday Night Live since 2003. During his tenure, he had been in drag lampooning Maya Angelou, Jennifer Hudson, and other Black women who were public figures. In 2013, he refused to portray a woman ever again on SNL. That line in the sand ended up launching many comedy careers.

    At the time, out of the 16 SNL cast members, there were only two other persons of color: Black comedian and actor Jay Pharoah, and Iranian-born American actress, Nasim Pedrad. This meant that either Thompson or Pharoah would have to don a wig and a dress if the show was spoofing a Black woman celebrity. As the longest running cast member on SNL, Thompson felt comfortable to publicly state that he wouldn’t portray a woman ever again. Pharoah backed him up and even pitched potential Black women comedians and producers.

    The audition that launched a new wave of comedians

    The move forced the producers to conduct a search for at least one Black female cast member by January 2014. The search led to Sasheer Zamata, who joined the cast until 2017. Since then, she’s gone on to other opportunities as a stand-up comedian and actress. Some of her roles include movies such as 2021’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Marvel and Disney+’s 2024 series Agatha All Along. 

    Even though Zamata claimed the spot on SNL, many of her fellow auditioners were noticed for other comedy jobs. After Zamata’s casting had been announced, the runner-up, Amber Ruffin, was almost immediately staffed as a writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers. Ruffin still currently works as a writer on the show while also getting other opportunities. She wrote her own sitcom, hosted her own comedy talk show, and participates as a talking head on Have I Got News For You.

    There was another future SNL all-star who wasn’t immediately cast, but hired on as a writer. However, she was promoted to a full cast member before the end of 2014. That person? Leslie Jones, who has since launched into film and television superstardom.

    Even though they didn’t get the job, many other funny Black women broke out at that audition. Tiffany Haddish would get recurring roles in TV shows like The Carmichael Show and star in the ultra-popular film, Girls Trip. Nicole Byer would have several live-action and voice-over roles while also hosting reality shows like Nailed It. In fact, Byer co-hosts a podcast with Zamata called Best Friends.

    It should be noted that these women likely would have found success without this SNL audition. Kenan Thompson would not and is not taking credit for their success. However, it is funny how refusing to wear a dress was one small push that created momentum in several different directions for so many talented people.

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family, parenthood, childbirth, hospital mixup, culture
Family

Man strokes strange woman’s hair as she slept in hilariously embarrassing mixup

Jacalyn Wetzel