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A 9-year-old boy learns to be a superhero with the help of a friendly waiter.

The world would be a much brighter place if we all showed one another this type of kindness.

Born with a congenital heart defect, Oscar underwent open-heart surgery when he was just six days old.

He was born with the condition transposition of the great arteries.

"His father and I faced an uncertain future with our newborn son," Oscar's mom, Jeni, told me via email. "Our world wasn't just turned upside down — it was inside out and shaken around and very confusing."

Here's Oscar, the day after his surgery. All photos courtesy of Jen Goodhand-Wyatt. ‎

Thanks to help from Heart Link Children's Charity, Jeni and her husband were given accommodations near the hospital to stay near their young son as he worked through the early stages of recovery. The charity also helped by providing some of the equipment Oscar would need for his long-term survival.

Now 9 years old, Oscar is alive and well, though he has to meet with a cardiologist from time to time.

Earlier this week, during an appointment with his cardiologist, Oscar was devastated to learn that he couldn't practice karate.

So on the way home, Jeni decided to stop at the local TGI Fridays for dinner.

What happened next changed the course of a sad, stressful day and transformed it into something amazing.

Oscar meets with his cardiologist before setting off for dinner.

The experience at TGI Fridays turned the day around, and Oscar learned a wonderful lesson.

Here's the story, as posted to Jeni's Facebook page and republished here with permission:

"So here's a happy post. We went to TGI on our way home from the hospital. Before taking Oscar in I went in to check that there were no Halloween decorations (Os is petrified of Halloween). I explained his ASD and the gent on reception was great saying I could choose where we sat so Os was happy. Well, it had to be the Star Wars table didn't it and I said he was a Star Wars loving superhero."

ASD stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder. "Oscar is a sensory seeker (part of autism), and as a result can be a messy eater," Jeni told Upworthy. So dining out isn't something the family does often because people can be quite rude.

"About six months ago in a local pub we actually had a family move from sitting next to us and we heard the words 'disgusting' used in reference to Oscar. He's far from disgusting — he just thoroughly enjoys his food and finds it hard to control his body when it's THAT good!"

But Oscar had gotten some bad news that morning about not being able to practice his karate, and he deserved a lunch out.

Os seated happily at the "Star Wars" booth with a Chewbacca doll.

"Fast forward ten mins and the waitress comes over and says 'I understand you're a superhero. Here's your menu.' Os was a bit bummed as today the cardiologist said he couldn't do Karate because of his heart... In his mind that means he's not a superhero. So I explained his sad face to the perplexed waitress and ordered food.

Dinner arrived and then a new waiter came over. 'Is your dinner ok!' Os replied 'It's only just got here silly!' and laughed. The waiter smiled and walked away. He returned moments later with two balloon models he'd made for Os."

Balloon animals!

"A little while later he came over and asked me if he could buy a pudding, any pudding off the menu, for Os. Well there was no stopping Boo... Chocolate Brownie it was! When he served it I asked why. 'Because he's a superhero!' was [the waiter's] reply.

And on the bill... SUPERHERO was the discount given."

Superhero discount, right there in writing:

Oscar's mom finishes her Facebook post with a thank you to the wait staff:

"Fantastic service. Thank you so very much from a mum who has had an emotional roller-coaster of a day and from a boy who is now sleeping soundly with a belly full of chocolate brownie."

Upworthy reached out to TGI Fridays Director of Culture and People Development Jacqui McManus about Oscar's story.

“We're very proud of our Fridays Family, who always work hard to go above and beyond, and we believe that this is a great example of what we always look for from our team members," she wrote in a statement provided to Upworthy.

"Team members are encouraged to bring their personality to every shift and tailor the experience for every guest. Ryan and the team at Coventry did a wonderful job offering the Fridays experience to Oscar, our new Fridays Superhero."

From this experience, Oscar has learned that a real superhero comes from within, not from karate.

"Although I was choking back the tears after an emotional day, it was lovely to see Os and his cuddly Chewbacca toy enjoying himself without worrying," Jeni told Upworthy.

"He didn't really realize the impact he'd had on [the waiter]," Jeni said. With her Facebook post about their lunch at over 10,000 Likes, she says Os is starting to understand that a"real 'superhero' comes from within and he must be a superhero if he made so many people smile."

Oscar and his sister Faith ride a carousel.

For less than $4, some balloons, and friendly service, a little boy and his mother's day was made.

It really is the little things in life that make such a huge difference. The world would be a much brighter place if we all showed one another this type of kindness.

Science

Sustainably good news: Recycling is getting better and this family is showing us how

What if instead of focusing on what isn’t working, we looked at these stories as an invitation to do better?

Via Ridwell

Ryan Metzger and son Owen

There is no shortage of dire news about the state of modern recycling. Most recently, this NPR article shared the jaw-dropping statistic that about 5% of all plastics produced get recycled, meaning the rest of it ends up in landfills. While the underlying concerns here are sound, I worry that the public narrative around recycling has gotten so pessimistic that it will make people give up on it entirely instead of seeing the opportunities to improve it. What if instead of focusing on what isn’t working, we looked at these news stories as an invitation to do better?

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Brendan Fraser showed up at a screening of 'The Mummy' completely decked out in costume

The audience went wild.

The Prince Charles Cinema/Youtube

Brendan Fraser dressed as Rick O'Connell.

Brendan Fraser might be making the greatest career comeback ever, racking up accolades and award nominations for his dramatic, transformative role in “The Whale." But the OG Fraser fans (the ones who watch “Doom Patrol” solely to hear his voice and proudly pronounce his last name as Fray-zure, for this is the proper pronunciation) have known of his remarkable talent since the 90s, when he embodied the ultimate charming, dashing—and slightly goofball—Hollywood action lead.

Let us not forget his arguably most well known and beloved 90s character—Rick O’Connell from the “Mummy” franchise. Between his quippy one-liners, Indiana Jones-like adventuring skills and fabulous hair, what’s not to like?

During a double feature of “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns” in London, moviegoers got the ultimate surprise when who should walk in but Brendan Fraser himself, completely decked out in Rick O’Connell attire. The brown leather jacket. The scarf. Everything.

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Little boy and his mom get the surprise of a lifetime: tickets to the Eagles game

"I hate telling people no, especially when I can help."

ESPN Facebook

Little boy and his mom get surprised with tickets to Eagles game.

In today's world, it's easy to get caught up in all the negative news we're exposed to, but in reality, most good deeds are done away from a camera—just one person helping another without desire for fanfare. And for mom Bryanne McBride and her young son, Mason, that's exactly what they were doing when they got the surprise of a lifetime.

Bryanne was approached by a man in a parking lot asking for a dollar to catch the bus. The entire time, the mom scrounged around in her purse looking for spare change and revealed she felt bad because she thought she had some. Bryanne's desire to help was a simple act of kindness to another human in need without the expectation of something in return.

During the time it took for the unsuspecting mother to dig for loose change, the "stranded" stranger, Zach, introduced himself and asked if the duo were from Philly. Once they said they were from the area, he then inquired if they were Eagles fans...the football team, not the birds. "You ever been to an Eagles game?" Zach asked.

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A guy may have met his 'dream girl' at a bar but she only gave him part of her phone number

Talk about playing hard to get.

via Tod Perry

An artist's recreation of Jackie's napkin note.

A woman named Jackie pulled a move straight out of a romantic comedy recently, and it has the internet rallying around her potential love interest. Jackie met a guy at a bar and liked him so much that she gave him her phone number. Well, 80% of her number, that is.

The world heard about it on January 17 when Twitter user Henpecked Hal shared a picture of the napkin with her partial phone number written on it. "My 22-year-old cousin met his dream girl at a bar and it's going pretty well,” Hal wrote in the tweet.

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Two couples move in together with their kids to create one big, loving 'polyfamory'

They are using their unique family arrangement to help people better understand polyamory.

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The Hartless and Rodgers families post together


Polyamory, a lifestyle where people have multiple romantic or sexual partners, is more prevalent in America than most people think. According to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, one in nine Americans have been in a polyamorous relationship, and one in six say they would like to try one.

However popular the idea is, polyamory is misunderstood by a large swath of the public and is often seen as deviant. However, those who practice it view polyamory as a healthy lifestyle with several benefits.

Taya Hartless, 28, and Alysia Rogers, 34, along with their husbands Sean, 46, and Tyler, 35, are in a polyamorous relationship and have no problem sharing their lifestyle with the public on social media. Even though they risk stigmatization for being open about their non-traditional relationships, they are sharing it with the world to make it a safer place for “poly” folks like themselves.

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Woman without an internal monologue explains what it's like inside her head

“She's broken my mind. I don't even understand what I'm not understanding."

PA Struggles/Youtube

An estimated 50-70% of the population doesn't have an internal monologue.

The notion of living without an internal monologue is a fairly new one. Until psychologist Russell Hurlburt’s studies started coming out in the late 90s, it was widely accepted that everyone had a little voice narrating in their head. Now Hurlburt, who has been studying people's "inner experience" for 40 years, estimates that only 30-50% of the population frequently think this way.

So what about the other 50-70%? What exactly goes on inside their heads from day to day?

In a video interview originally posted in 2020, a woman named Kirsten Carlson gave some insight into this question, sharing how not having an inner dialogue affected her reading and writing, her interactions with others and how she navigates mental challenges like anxiety and depression. It was eye-opening and mind-blowing.
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Native Siberian shares what daily life entails in the coldest village on Earth

See how the people of Yakutia, Siberia take showers, do laundry, go to school and more in minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit.

Kiun B./YouTube

A man in the Yakutia region of Siberia takes an ice bath in minus 50 degrees Celsius.

For most of us, waking up to a temperature of minus 50 degrees would spell catastrophe. Normal life would come to a screeching halt, we'd be scrambling to deal with frozen pipes and power outages, school and work would be canceled and weather warnings would tell us not to venture outside due to frostbite risk.

But in the Yakutia region of Siberia, that's just an average winter day where life goes on as usual.

When you live in the coldest inhabited area on Earth, your entire life is arranged around dealing with ridiculously cold temperatures. Villages don't have running water because freezing pipes wouldn't allow for water treatment. Kids go to school unless the temp drops below minus 55 degrees Celsius (which is then considered dangerous). Showering involves spending hours stoking a fire in the bathhouse to create a steamy, warm room.

Native Siberian Kiun B. has created a series of documentary short films detailing what daily life is like in Yakutia's frigid winters. She was born and raised in Yakutsk, Siberia, widely recognized as the coldest city on Earth, where average winter temperatures hover around minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. As seen in her videos, smaller villages in the Yakutia region regularly dip down into the negative 50s, with the lowest recorded temp in the Yakut village of Oymayakon reaching a mindblowing minus 96 degrees Fahrenheit.

The popularity of Kiun's YouTube channel demonstrates how curious people are about life in such harsh conditions, as her videos have been viewed by tens of millions of people in the past year alone.

Check out this video detailing a day in the life of a family in a Yakutia village.

Can you imagine going out to use an outhouse in minus 40 degrees? Oof.

Another of Kiun's videos goes into more detail about how people shower and do laundry in the region. You might assume they wouldn't line-dry their laundry outdoors, but they do.

Watch:

What do people wear to protect themselves from the negative temperatures? Frostbite is a real risk, so it's important to have the right kinds of clothing and outdoor gear to stay safe and relatively comfortable.

Kiun shared some frigid fashion norms from Yakutsk, which include traditional fur hats and boots as well as lots of layers and down jackets.

However, there are some Yakut folks who see the cold as something to embrace. For instance, this man takes an ice bath out in the elements as a morning ritual. It's something he has worked up to—definitely not something to try on your own during a cold snap—but it still has to be painful.

(Seriously, please don't try this at home.)

The way humans have learned to adapt to drastically different environments, from the sweltering tropics to the Arctic tundra, is incredible, and it's fascinating to get a close-up look at how people make life work in those extremes. Thank you, Kiun B., for giving us a glimpse of what it's like to experience life in the dead of winter in the world's coldest inhabited places.

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